Chromosomal Study of two Cyprinid fishes of the genus Barbus; Barbus callipterus Boulenger 1907 and Barbus parablabes Daget 1957

The chromosomes of two cyprinid fishes of the genus Barbus; B. callipterus and B. parablabes were assessed in this study with a view to providing baseline information about the diploid chromosome number, karyotype and morphology. This study reveals that B. callipterus has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 50, fundamental number of autosomal arms (NFa) of 66, and karyotype formula: 2n = 4m + 6sm + 6st +34T. On the other hand, B. parablabes has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 50, fundamental number of autosomal arms (NFa) of 50, and karyotype formula: 2n = 2t + 48T. The chromosome number obtained for both species confirms that they belong to the diploid group of African barbs. However, contrary to the general chromosome morphology described for small African barbs, the two species studied are mostly telocentric.