The second immunoglobulin class is commonly present in cartilaginous fish belonging to the order Rajiformes

Six species of cartilaginous fish distributed into four orders, Rajiformes (skates and guitarfishes), Myliobatiformes (rays), Heterodontiformes (sharks) and Carcharhiniformes (sharks), were investigated for the possible presence of a second class of immunoglobulin (Ig) other than IgM. Among those orders, fish belonging to the order Rajiformes were found to have a second Ig (IgR) with a non-covalently associated dimeric structure in which the H chain was different from that of IgM in mol. wt and antigenicity. Cartilaginous fish belonging to the other orders investigated had only one class of IgM.