Banded karyotype of spined loach Cobitis taenia and triploid Cobitis from Poland.

The present work provides new data on the banding pattern of diploid Cobitis taenia and its triploid hybrid females, which belong to the diploid-polyploid complex in the Vistula River tributary. C-banding, silver-staining (Ag), and fluorescent staining with chromomycin A3 techniques were used to describe the diploid and triploid karyotype. The karyotype of Cobitis taenia of 2n = 48 was characterised by one pair of NOR-bearing subtelocentric chromosomes and at least four chromosomes with CMA3-positive sites. The C-positive heterochromatin was present in the centromeres of almost all chromosomes and the pericentromeric regions of several metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes. The triploid females of 3n = 74 had two pairs of chromosomes with active NORs. The NORs-sites were located terminally on two biarmed and two uniarmed chromosomes. The CMA3-staining revealed at least six A3-positive sites. The C-banded and A3-stained triploid karyotype was composed of haploid set of Cobitis taenia and diploid set of unidentified species, so heterochromatin pattern confirmed the possibility of their hybrid origin. The characteristics of banded diploid and triploid karyotype, and the hypothetical karyotype of an unknown species of 2n = 50 is discussed.