Seasonal reproductive health of flounder Platichthys flesus exposed to sewage effluent

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Indicators of environmental oestrogen exposure in male and female wild flounder Platichthys flesus were followed over the annual reproductive cycle. Fish were obtained from the Tyne estuary, UK, which receives effluent from a large sewage treatment works and several other anthrophogenic sources and the Solway Firth, UK, which receives only low levels of sewage effluent. Vitellogenin (vtg), a female-spec~fic protein, was present in the plasma of up to 9 4 % of males from the Tyne and was accompanied by inhibited spermatogenesis and the incidence of pathological testic'ular abnormalities. The vtg levels in males are independent of the seasonal cycle. Female flounders from the Tyne exhibited increased vtg levels and a higher proportion of degenerating oocytes than Solway Firth females. This study provides limited evidence that wild populations of flounders showing oestrogenic responses are also suffering reproductive disturbances but the degree of alteration varies during the seasonal reproductive cycle.

Evidence for estrogenic endocrine disruption in an offshore flatfish, the dab (Limanda limanda L.)

“…Male flounders (Platichthys flesus) caught in industrialised estuaries of the UK and the Netherlands have been found with elevated concentrations of VTG in their plasma (Lye, Frid, Gill, & McCormick, 1997;Lye, Frid, & Gill, 1998;Allen et al, 1999a;Allen et al, 1999b;Matthiessen, Allen, Bamber, Craft, Hurst, Hutchinson et al, 2002;Vethaak, Lahr, Kuiper, Grinwis, Rankouhi, Giesy et al, 2002;Kirby, Allen, Dyer, Feist, Katsiadaki, Matthiessen et al, 2004;Kleinkauf, Scott, Stewart, Simpson, & Leah, 2004b;Kirby, Smith, Barry, Katsiadaki, Lyons, & Scott, 2006). The range of VTG concentrations was great (from <0.01 µg/ml to >50 x 10 3 µg/ml).…”

Vitellogenin of the Chilean flounder Paralichthys adspersus as a biomarker of endocrine disruption along the marine coast of the South Pacific. Part I: induction, purification, and identification

“…Numerous bioassays using vitellogenin induction in males or juveniles have been developed to study endocrine disruptors (Heppell et al 1995;Jones et al 2000;Sun et al 2003). Many other studies have used the presence (Lye et al 1998) and levels of vitellogenin (Scott et al 2007;Kurihara et al 2007;Fernandes et al 2008) in male fishes to indicate endocrine disruption.…”

Gonad histology and vitellogenin concentrations in brown trout (Salmo trutta) from Danish streams impacted by sewage effluent

“…Reproductive disorders among wild populations of fish also include abnormal hormone levels (Folmar et al 1996(Folmar et al , 2002Jobling et al 2002a;Lavado et al 2004), asynchrony in the development of germ cells in males and females as well as reduced spawning and fertilising capacity of male fish (Aravindakshan et al 2004;Jobling et al 2002a, b). Observed feminisation in wild populations of fish does now include the freshwater species roach (Jobling et al 1998: Minier et al 2000, gudgeon (Gobio gobio) (van Aerle et al 2001), carp (Cyprinus carpio) (Folmar 1996;Solé et al 2002a, b), bream (Abramis brama L.) (Hecker et al 2002;Vethaak et al 2002), chub (Leucicus cephalus) (Flammarion et al 2000), shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhychus platyorynchus) (Harshbarger et al 2000), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) (Folmar et al 2001), three spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) (Gercken and Sordyl 2002) plus the marine species flounder (Platichthys flesus) (Lye et al 1997(Lye et al , 1998Allen et al 1999;Stentiford et al 2003), eelpout (Zoarces viviparus) (Mathiessen et al 2002;Stentiford et al 2003) and two species of sand gobies (Pomatoschistus minutes and P. lozanoi) (Mathiessen et al 2002). Many of the freshwater species which have been examined for signs of feminisation belong to the carp family.…”