Le caryotype d'Aulacomya ater regia (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Mytilidae) des Iles Kerguelen

In 1983, specimens of the antarctic mussel Aulacomya ater regia Powell, 1957 were collected from the Kerguelen Islands and transported alive to the Zoological Station in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. The chromosome complement of the mussel, as determined from branchial tissue, was found to consist of 13 pairs of chromosomes with terminal or subterminal centromeres. This species differs from the other species of Mytilidae studied up to the present in the number and the morphology of the chromosomes. A. ater regia is also unique among the known bivalves in displaying only terminal or subterminal centromeres.