Variability in Paper Electrophoretic Patterns of the Serum of Landlocked Sea Lamprey, Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus

Abstract

One hundred and fifty-eight samples of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus L.) blood were analyzed using paper electrophoresis at pH 8.6. The specimens were of two phases in lamprey life history, the parasitic phase and pre-spawning phase. Variations in serum protein concentration, positions and sizes of the fractions were associated with the state of life history, sex and disease. Most of the variation between phases of life history was in the dominant fraction, an albumin. There was a decrease in total stainable protein while specimens were starved in captivity. Disease caused several changes in the pattern, the most striking of which was an increase in the size of fraction 6, probably [alpha]-globulin.