Red blood cell antigens in cod

Cods, chicken, and rabbits were injected with cod blood cells to detect antigenic variation of cod erythrocytes. Cods did not produce detectable amounts of antibodies, and chicken showed production of species specific antibodies. Rabbits produced both species specific antibodies and antibodies which agglutinated erythrocytes from some but not all cods. Six of the blood factors detected were designated A, B, C, D, E, and G. The factors were without any subtyping relationship. In attempts to study the heredity from population data applying the Hardy-Weinberg law, specimens from four different localities were blood typed. The results indicated that the factors A and B belong to the same blood group system, while the other factors, except G on account of too few positive reactions, did not appear to be allelic. The stable frequency of the factors A, D, and E in three samples from one locality over a period of three years, and results of population studies of spawning cod based among other things on the factors A and E, supported the hereditary theory.