Abstract
Karyotypes of the brackish-water polychaete Neanthes japonica (Izuka) collected from five rivers in Japan from 1984 to 1988 were examined with air-drying and flame-drying methods using materials consisting of regenerating tails, clumps of spermatogonia and young N. japonica specimens (embryos, larvae or juveniles). A diploid number of 28 was determined in well-spread metaphase chromosomes of mitotic cells. The presence of an XX-XY (male heterogametic) sex chromosome system was established for the first time in polychaetes. The Y chromosome was larger than the X chromosome. Slight differences in karyotype were found between two forms (the small- and large-egg forms), which are very similar in adult morphology but can be distinguished by reproductive and developmental characteristics.
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Suva
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Sato, M., Ikeda, M. Chromosomal complements of two forms of Neanthes japonica (Polychaeta, Nereididae) with evidence of male-heterogametic sex chromosomes. Mar. Biol. 112, 299–307 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00702475
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00702475