Nuclear DNA Content Variation in Fishes.

Abstract

Forty-two species of Chinese freshwater fishes were examined for their cellular DNA content. The result showed that there is a close correlations between nuclear chromosome number or ploids and DNA content in fish. These observations suggest that the more specialized or evolutionarily advanced species, the less nuclear DNA content the fishes possess. The polyploid evolution, the systematic relationship of the fishes and the variations within species are discussed.