Variants of Lactate Dehydrogenase Isozymes in Sera of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Abstract

Three phenotypes of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozymes were found in sera of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), presumably representing B′B′, B′B, and BB genotypes. No association was obvious between LDH phenotype of sera and sex or total body length.Of 1006 sera from Asian, Bristol Bay, and Gulf of Alaska stocks, 826 were B′B′ and 180 were B′B or BB. Of 591 sera from Washington and British Columbia stocks, 589 were B′B′ and 2 were B′B; both of the B-allele phenotypes were found in fish captured at the Skeena River in northern British Columbia. These findings suggested that LDH isozymes should be useful in studies on ocean distribution of sockeye salmon and in characterizing certain Asian and Alaskan sockeye salmon populations.