Fundulus heteroclitus: Ovarian reproductive physiology and the impact of environmental contaminants

Biological and Ecological Aspects of the Blackmouth Catshark (Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810) in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea

“…High catches of juveniles in the trawl fishery could have led to this adaptation [65][66][67][68]. Moreover, the presence of pollutants can induce physiological adaptations, leading to early gonadal maturation stages and size reduction [69][70][71]. Other studies concerning the effects of pollutants on this and other species [57,63,64,72,73] are necessary to better understand these processes.…”

Effects of model aromatizable (17α-methyltestosterone) and non-aromatizable (5α-dihydrotestosterone) androgens on the adult mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) in a short-term reproductive endocrine bioassay

“…The ongoing interest in the androgenic effects of PME and feedlot runoff (Scott et al, 2011;Bartelt-Hunt et al, 2012;Milestone et al, 2012) warrants improved understanding of the effects and modes of action of androgens in mummichog, a species identified as an excellent model for determining the interactions of environmental variables and reproductive contaminants on fish (Burnett et al, 2007;Lister et al, 2011;Gillio Meina et al, 2013). To build on previous work in mummichog, a short-term adult reproductive endocrine bioassay was used to test the effects of MT, an aromatizable androgen and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a non-aromatizable androgen, on plasma sex steroid levels and gonadal gene expression.…”

“…The northern mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus macrolepidotus) provides a comparable estuarine fish model (Lister et al, 2011) and has been shown to be responsive to EDS (MacLatchy et al, 2003Gillio Meina et al, 2013), including the model aromatizable androgen MT and the model anti-androgen cyproterone acetate (Sharpe et al, 2004). In that study, female mummichog were more susceptible to MT exposure compared to males as assessed by degree of depression of gonadal production and circulating T and E 2 levels in females and T and 11-ketotestosterone (11KT) in males (Sharpe et al, 2004).…”

Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) continue to successfully produce eggs after exposure to high levels of 17α‐ethinylestradiol

“…Ovarian reproductive physiology in mummichog and the effect of environmental contaminants have recently been reviewed by Lister et al . Significant differences exist in hormonal production in maturing mummichog ovaries relative to other commonly studied fish models such as salmonids and medaka.…”