Electrophoretic identification of roach (Rutilus rutilus L.), rudd (Scardinim erythrophthalmus L.), bream (Abramis brama L.) and their natural hybrids

Roach, rudd, bream and their natural hybrids of 2 cm standard length or larger can be definitively identified by their enzyme electrophoretic patterns. Zymograms of lactate dehydrogenase and esterases as produced by vertical starch gel electrophoretic analysis of whole fry or adult eye extracts are the most useful in this respect. The lactate dehydrogenase isozymes, containing B sub-units, migrate more anodally in rudd and bream than in roach. Due to the tetrameric structure of lactate dehydrogenase, in hybrid rudd x roach and roach x bream, eleven isozymes can be observed as compared with six in the parental patterns. Esterases show unique patterns for all species and hybrids. With the exception of one fraction in rudd x bream, the esterase patterns of hybrids show summations of the parental phenotypes.