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Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can influence the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis and possibly affect reproduction in vertebrates. We analyzed the effect of 30-day endosulfan (ES) exposure in sexually undifferentiated larvae of the cichlid fish Cichlasoma dimerus. The number, area, mean cytoplasmic and nuclear diameter, and mean cytoplasmic optical density of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) I, II, and III immunoreactive (ir-) neurons and β follicle-stimulating hormone (βFSH) ir-cells were measured. Animals exposed to the highest ES concentration (0.1 μg/l) showed a decrease in GnRH I nucleus/cytoplasm area ratio upon exposure. Nuclear area and mean nuclear diameter of βFSH ir-cells was higher in ES treated fish. βFSH nucleus/cytoplasm area ratio was high in exposed animals, and animals exposed to 0.1 μg/l ES showed smaller mean cytoplasmic optical density. These findings suggest that ES affects GnRH I and βFSH protein synthesis/release. However, these responses seem to be insufficient to affect gonadal differentiation at this stage of development.

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Prochilodus lineatus (Val.) is one of the main target species of South American freshwater fisheries. The following null hypotheses regarding juvenile recruitment of P. lineatus were tested: (a) recruitment is not determined by variations in larval abundance and (b) recruitment is not determined by variations in discharge. For this purpose, variations in abundance of larvae in main channel drift and monthly captures of juveniles in a floodplain lake of the River Paraná were examined weekly between 2009 and 2016. Mean annual abundances of larval densities and CPUE of juveniles were correlated with a set of hydrometric variables. A positive correlation was found between the abundance of juveniles with high and persistent flood pulses. By contrast, larval abundance was not correlated with juvenile abundance. Pronounced contrast was found in the recruitment of P. lineatus between years of high and low discharge, which supports the hypothesis that floods are the main determining factor for recruitment of this species.

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