First observations of intersex development in paddlefish Polyodon spathula |
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Authors: | Jason D Schooley Adam Geik Dennis L Scarnecchia |
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Institution: | 1. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Jenks, Oklahoma, USA;2. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Great Falls, Montana, USA;3. University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA |
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Abstract: | This study reports the first cases of intersex (abnormal development of both male and female reproductive tissues in a gonad) paddlefish Polyodon spathula, an Acipenseriform species of large rivers in the central U.S. and in aquaculture worldwide. Despite a large, multi-decadal data set in Oklahoma, Montana, and North Dakota, intersex development was not observed until 2019, when two individuals were harvested from the Grand Lake/Neosho River stock in Oklahoma. This suggests that intersex development in mid-water, zooplanktivorous paddlefish is rarer than in bottom-dwelling sturgeons for which intersex development is regularly observed. Although contaminants are implicated in causing intersex development in other Acipenseriformes, more investigation is needed. |
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Keywords: | contaminants hermaphroditism intersex paddlefish pollution sturgeon |
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