Banding studies on the gray and sperm whale karyotypes

The karyotypes of the gray and sperm whales were studied by means of banding techniques. The gray whale has 2n=44. The morphology of the karyotype conforms with the 2n=44 general cetacean karyotypes. A considerable part of the karyotype is C-band positive. The C-bands occur mainly in interstitial and terminal chromosome positions. The G-banded karyotype showed obvious similarities to other baleen whale karyotypes, in particular the minke whale. The sperm whale has 2n=42. The karyotype differs strikingly from the 2n=44 cetacean karyotypes, primarily due to the absence of telocentric chromosomes. The C-band studies of the sperm whale further underlined the dissimilarities between the 2n=44 general cetacean karyotype and that of the sperm whale.