CHROMOSOMES OF CAECULA ORIENTALIS (McCLELLAND) (OPHICHTHYIDAE: TELEOSTEI)

Somatic chromosomes from the gill epithelia and kidney of a marine fish Caecula orientalis have been studied and their morphometric analyses have been done. The diploid complement of 38 chromosomes consists of 18 metacentric, 4 subtelocentric and 16 telocentric chromosomes with the fundamental arm number 60 and the relative percentage length variation from 8.86 to 2.70. The relationship of its karyotype with that of the lone cytologically known confamilial species Pisodomophis boro and with some other anguilloid fishes of its related families have been discussed. Karyotypic conservatism among the anguilloids with the role of pericentric inversion causing karyotypic variation among them has been stressed. The possible roles of fusion and pericentric inversion in bringing out the karyotypes of anguilloids from the primitive karyotype for fishes have been discussed and the cytological kinship of the family Ophichthyidae with Congridae and Anguillidae has been established.