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Sex steroids can both modulate and be modulated by behavior, and their actions are mediated by complex interactions among multiple hormone sources and targets. While gonadal steroids delivered via circulation can affect behavior, changes in local brain steroid synthesis also can modulate behavior. The relative steroid load across different tissues and the association of these levels with rates of behavior have not been well studied. The bluebanded goby (Lythrypnus dalli) is a sex changing fish in which social status determines sexual phenotype. We examined changes in steroid levels in brain, gonad and body muscle at either 24 hours or 6 days after social induction of protogynous sex change, and from individuals in stable social groups not undergoing sex change. For each tissue, we measured levels of estradiol (E2), testosterone (T) and 11-ketotestosterone (KT). Females had more T than males in the gonads, and more E2 in all tissues but there was no sex difference in KT. For both sexes, E2 was higher in the gonad than in other tissues while androgens were higher in the brain. During sex change, brain T levels dropped while brain KT increased, and brain E2 levels did not change. We found a positive relationship between androgens and aggression in the most dominant females but only when the male was removed from the social group. The results demonstrate that steroid levels are responsive to changes in the social environment, and that their concentrations vary in different tissues. Also, we suggest that rapid changes in brain androgen levels might be important in inducing behavioral and/or morphological changes associated with protogynous sex change.

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To investigate the relationship between fertilization modalities and the morphology of male reproductive apparatus, two species of Auchenipteridae, Auchenipterus nuchalis and Tatia intermedia, and six species of Callichthyidae, Callichthys callichthys, Corydoras aeneus, Corydoras bondi, Corydoras ehrhardti, Corydoras potaroensis and Hoplosternum littorale were studied. The species analysed show either internal or external fertilization, the latter including the so called 'sperm drinking' type of mating. An anal fin modified as an intromittent organ, a pair of seminal vesicles, and the release of sperm in the form of discrete bundles (spermatozeugmata) characterize the male reproductive apparatus of the internal fertilizer A. nuchalis. Seminal vesicles are present also in C. aeneus, C. bondi, C. ehrhardti, C. potaroensis and H. littorale, species performing 'sperm drinking' spawning. In contrast, regardless of the family, species showing the more classic type of external fertilization lack specialized accessory organs. Where occurring, the major function of seminal vesicles is the secretion of mucins. The role of these mucosubstances, in relation to spermatozeugmata formation, in internal fertilizers, or the protection of sperm passing through the female gut, in the 'sperm-drinking' species, is discussed. Variation, between families, in the shape of testis and accessory structures, as well as in the type of spermatogenesis was found. Neither the reproductive modalities nor the phylogenetic relationships, however, appear to fully account for these differences.