CRITIQUE OF SEROLOGICAL AND ELECTROPHORETIC STUDIES ON THE INDIAN OIL SARDINE AND MACKEREL

Abstract

A method found to have been applied of late for fish population studies
is the use of electrophoretic, biochemical and serological techniques in the identification
of genetic stock as the natural units of fish resources (deLigny 1969, 1971,
Eckroat 1973, Iwata 1973, Mangaly and Jamieson 1978 and Grant and Utter
1980). The common goal of these investigations is to describe the genetic composition
of the sample population in terms of observed gene frequencies or genotype
proportions. A standard procedure followed in all these studies involves
detection of one or more suitable gene-marker in the form of electrophoretic
variants or serological polymorphs, calculation of gene-frequencies or genotype
proportions in the tested samples containing statistically sufficient number of
specimens, comparison of the observed distribution pattern of different phenotypes
with that expected pattern calculated, on the basis of a proposed genetic
model, and interpretation of significant gene-frequency differences or zygotic proportions
at one or more loci as indicative of heterogeniety of populations tested.
Jamieson (1974) has focussed high-lights on these points.