Protein polymorphism and geographic variation in the loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

Electrophoretic variations of enzymatic and non-enzymatic proteins were investigated in 8 populations of the loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus. The cathodic hemoglobin and the muscle protein in the region II were shown to be polymorphic, in addition to the five polymorphic proteins previously reported (the anodic hemoglobin, muscle protein in the region III, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucomutase and aspartate aminotransferase; Kimura, 1976 & 1977). The muscle proteins in the regions I, IV and V were monomorphic. The values of genetic distances between loach populations, calculated over 10 loci, indicated that M anguillicaudatus should be classified into two local races.