The objective of this research was to find the caryotype of the endemic ornamental fish, Celebes rainbow (Telmatherina ladigesi) from Maros River South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The experimental fish were caught from the branches of Maros River, those are Bantimurung River, Pattunuangasue River and Makkatoang River. Tissue collection and slide preparation were carried out using the solid tissue technique with slight modification. The amount of chromosome pairs found from those three rivers (three population) were 2n = 48. These chromosomes were divided into 13 pairs big chromosomes (>1 urn) and 11 pairs small chromosomes (<1 u.m). The caryotype of each population were 3 submetacentric (Sm), 7 subtelocentric (St) and 14 telocentric (t) for population in Pattunuangasue River, 2Sm-8St-14t in Bantimurung River and lSm-7St-16t in Makkatoang River. Based on the above caryotype datas it was concluded that the population of Celebes rainbow in Maros River have been different.

Key words : Celebes Rainbow, endemic, caryotype, chromosome, Maros River

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kariotip dari ikan hias endemik rainbow Sulawesi (Telmatherina ladigesi). Ikan uji rainbow Sulawesi diambil dari beberapa anak Sungai Maros yaitu Sungai Bantimurung, Sungai Pattunuangasue dan Sungai Makkatoang. Pembuatan preparat kromosom dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik jaringan padat dengan sedikit modifikasi. Jumlah kromosom semua ikan uji rainbow Sulawesi adalah 48 buah atau 24 pasang (2n = 48). Kromosom tersebut terdiri atas 13 pasang kromosom besar (>I u,m) dan 11 pasang kromosom kecil (<1 urn ). Pola kariotip yang diperoleh yaitu masing-masing 3 submetasentrik (Sm), 7 subtelosentrik (St) dan 14 telosentrik (t) untuk ikan rainbow Sulawesi di Sungai Pattunuangasue, 2Sm-8St-14t di Sungai Bantimurung dan lSm-7St-16t di Sungai Makkatoang. Perbedaan pola kariotip ini menunjukkan adanya kemungkinan perbedaan populasi.