SM + RM 



Fiai'RE 2. — The relation between SM and RM vitellins 

 detected (a) by rabbit anti-RM serum and (b) by 

 rabbit anti-SM serum. Arrow in (b) indicates the 



partial cross reaction between RM vitellin and the 

 anti-SM reagent. 



PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS FOR 

 STUDIES OF MATURITY 



The broad cross-reactive range of antisera 

 produced against the vitellins of rockfish and 

 starry flounder is of practical importance. It is 

 likely that these reagents react with serum 

 vitellins from mature female teleosts at least 

 through the taxonomic range of this study. An 

 investigator wishing to include serological data 

 in maturity studies may therefore use a single 

 reagent throughout a I'ange of teleost species 

 rather than produce different antisera for 

 relatively limited taxonomic groupings. The 

 necessity of obtaining vitellin-bearing material 

 for immunizations from species where such 

 materials would be difficult to obtain or process 

 is also eliminated. 



The data suggest that vitellins of the most 

 taxonomically advanced species stimulate the 

 highly cross-reactive antisera. Some theoretical 

 implications of this apparent trend are dis- 

 cussed below. As a practical consideration, 

 however, it appears that vitellin from Perci- 

 form or closely allied species may be most likely 

 to stimulate antisera which have broad cross- 

 reactive properties. 



SYSTEMATIC CONSIDERATIONS 



Nuttall (1904) in an early immunological 

 study, observed that the quantities of precipi- 

 tates formed by specific antigen-antibody inter- 

 actions decrease as the taxonomic relationships 

 become more distant from the materials used 

 in antibody stimulation. The present study 

 agrees generally with this observation. As 

 illustrated by figure 1, the broadly cross-reac- 

 tive antisera reacted most strongly with the 

 homologous vitellin and least strongly with the 

 most distantly related cpyrinid and salmonid 

 vitellins. A notable exception is the reaction of 

 sturgeon vitellin with anti-cyprinid vitellin, an 

 antiserum which fails to react with vitellins of 

 numerous, more closely related, groups. The 

 other exceptions include the weak cross-reac- 

 tions of antisalmonid vitellin with rockfish 

 vitellin but not with herring or carp vitellin, 

 and the similarly weak cross-reaction of anti- 

 clupeid vitellin with rockfish vitellin but not 

 with salmon vitellin. 



Fine, Buffa, and Drilhon (1964) found a 

 component in mature female marine lampreys 

 analogous to the teleost vitellins described in 

 this report. The spiny dogfish egg, unlike those 



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U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



