Enzyme variation in the brook lamprey, Lampetra planeri (Bloch), a member of the vertebrate group Agnatha

Abstract

A natural population of the brook lamprey, Lampetra planeri, was assayed for electrophoretically detectable variation at 30 enzyme loci. The mean heterozygosity per locus of this primitive vertebrate, a member of the Agnatha, was found to be 0.076 ± 0.031, a value similar to those recorded for other vertebrates. The high chromosome numbers recorded for this and related species have been attributed to polyploidy, but our studies do not indicate the existence of large numbers of duplicated loci. Indeed, several enzymes that are encoded by duplicate loci in other vertebrate species appear to be encoded by single loci in the lamprey. It is suggested that studies on the biology and taxonomy of lampreys will benefit greatly from an electrophoretic approach.