Early development and post embryonic skeletal morphology of the progeny of Cobitis taenia (Teleostei, Cobitidae) and its naturally occurring allotriploids

Polyploid fishes of the genus Cobitis represent a valuable model system to study the origin and consequences of hybridization and polyploidization within vertebrates. These naturally accessible polyploids are an excellent subject to determine the advantages or disadvantages of polyploidy. We investigated the embryonic and larval development with skeletal morphology of diploid and polyploid Cobitis progeny, obtained from crosses between females and males of Cobitis taenia and between allotriploid Cobitis females and C. taenia males. Observations were made during first fourteen days post fertilization. The pattern of development of all investigated individuals was the same. However the diploids developed synchronically, achieving successive stages faster than the polyploid ones; hatching was observed at 50 and 63 hours post fertilization, respectively. Statistically significant differences in hatching success and survival rate between diploid and polyploid progeny were not observed. All newly hatched larvae were characterized by a large amount of yolk, forty myomeres, body pigmentation and four external gills. Skeletal elements of the chondrocranium in the first days post hatching consisted of the otic capsule, ethmoid plate, trabeculae cranii and Meckel’s cartilage. In contrast to the diploids, the polyploid larvae were characterized by a higher number of deformities. This study gives new comparative data on the features of early development of diploid and polyploid Cobitis progeny.