Black Crystal: A Novel Color Mutant in the American Mink (Mustela vison Schreber)

Black crystal, a new mutant of coat color pattern occurring in the American mink in the course of selection for domestic behavior, is described. A salient feature of the mutation is the appearance of white guard hairs producing a veil-like covering of the body. In the Black crystal homozygote, coat color is of the Himalayan type. Breeding data demonstrate that the novel color phase is inherited as a monogenic autosomal semidominant trait. The mutant gene is designated as Black crystal and is symbolized by Cr. The Cr gene is not allelic to the multiple-allelic series at the Black cross locus.