The chromosome-number of the female snake eel,
Muraenichthys gymnotus, is 2
n=48, consisting of 2 subtelocentric pairs and 22 acrocentric pairs, while in the male it is 2
n=47. In the male cells one large metacentric is always observed. Judging from the multiple sex-chromosome mechanism in the other species, the metacentric element is suggested to be the Y. Thus, the sex-chromosome mechanism in this species is inferred to be the multiple X
1X
2-Y.
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