Summary
Utilizing antisera to carp and trout hemoglobins, the hemoglobins of fish common to the Amazon River Basin exhibited extensive cross reactions. While no fish hemoglobin precipitated with antiserum to trout 4 (anodal component), many hemoglobins precipitated with either antisera to trout 1 (cathodal component) or carp hemoglobins. Several patterns of reactivity could be described among the poly disperse hemoglobins of various species which were analyzed by the electrophoretic separation of the components and an assessment of the ability of individual components to reach with the two types of antisera. Most striking was the different reactivity noted amongst the catfishes where the hemoglobins of air-breathing catfishes reacted more strongly with anti-trout 1 serum than with anticarp serum while the hemoglobins of the water-breathing catfishes behaved in reciprocal fashion.