Abstract

ALVAREZ-HERNANDEZ, Sergio; DE LARA-ISASSI, Graciela; ARREDONDO-FIGUEROA, José Luis  and  CAMPOS-VERDUZCO, Ricardo. Separation of red and Stirling strains of Oreochromis niloticus and hybrid 0. aureausx 0. niloticus (Pisces: Cichlidae) by the algal lectin giraffine. Hidrobiológica [online]. 2001, vol.11, n.2, pp.117-121. ISSN 0188-8897.

In order to separate two strains of tilapia Oreochromis) of O. niloticus (red and stirling strains) and rocky mountain hybrid (O. aureus x O. niloticus) the lectin giraffine isolated from Codium giraffa (Chlorophyta) was used. Fish blood was obtained by cardiac puncture and prepared as a 2 % suspension in phosphate buffer 100 mM, pH 7.2. At all cases, the lectin giraffine agglutinated the fish blood. The statistical analysis of agglutination results showed significantly differences (p ≤ 0.05) at single classification analysis of variance. Multiple comparisons among means SNK test shows overlapping between red and stirling strains, and could separate the hybrid rocky mountain from this group. We can concluded that giraffine can be used as an easy and cheap test for grouping these fishes. This test can aid the researcher to follow correctly the progeny of this fishes, commercially valuable as a food in Mexico.

Keywords : lectin; Giraffine; segregation; Codium giraffa; Oreochromis.