KARYOTYPE OF SILURUS-ARISTOTELIS WITH REFERENCE TO THE CYTOTAXONOMY OF THE GENUS SILURIS (PISCES, SILURIDAE)

The karyotype of silurid catfish, Silurus aristotelis endemic to Greec e was describe on the basis of conventional Giemsa-stained chromosomes . The diploid chromosome number was 2n = 58 and the karyotype consists of 10 pairs of metacentric, 12 pairs of submetacentric and 7 pairs of subtelocentric to acrocentric chromosomes (NF = 102). The results are compared with the only other reported on the karyotype of the species . A review of available data on the cytotaxonomy of the genus Silurus (sensu K o b a y a k a w a) suggests that: 1) all species of the genus Silurus appear to form a karyologically uniform group amongst silurid s, 2) their conventional Giemsa-stained karyotype appear to be remarka bly similar, and 3) the karyological data presently available does not substantiate separation of the genera Silurus and Parasilurus.