Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Introduction
Imposex (Smith 1971), also known as pseudohermaphroditism (Jenner 1979), in prosobranch species is the
most sensitive biological effect in response to TBT
(tributyltin) pollution of the environment. Under the
influence of this biocide with androgenic activity, female
snails develop male sex characteristics, e.g. a vas deferens and/or a penis in addition to the female system.
Masculinisation effects can be described by using clas-
73.38
13.32
0.44
1.40
0.31
1.02
0.17
0.53
0.25
0.11
0.28
1.80
0.74
4.28
53.06
Females 946
72.30
82.27
77.57
66.67
100.00
43.75
50.00
50.00
0.00
0.00
75.87
17.56
11.20
8.33
14.29
30.77
0.00
47.06
33.33
43.75
62.50
100.00
0.41
0.40
0.47
0.30
0.37
0.38
0.62
0.28
1.36
1.45
1.60
1.54
1.50
1.22
1.05
1.24
0.94
0.60
0.25
0.44
0.26
0.23
0.28
0.19
0.25
0.00
0.98
1.03
1.13
1.09
0.90
1.00
0.84
1.08
0.75
ND
0.17
0.16
0.17
0.12
0.13
0.09
0.41
0.00
0.52
0.54
0.59
0.46
0.60
0.52
0.46
0.55
0.35
ND
0.30
0.99
0.00
0.06
0.33
0.58
0.00
0.08
0.56
0.41
0.48
1.79
0.00
0.11
0.43
0.65
2.00
0.00
0.07
0.41
0.53
0.60
0.28
0.26
0.29
0.26
0.20
0.30
0.19
0.26
0.26
1.77
1.77
1.81
1.89
1.94
1.70
1.80
1.81
1.71
1.84
2.50
0.73
0.66
0.79
0.91
0.47
0.77
0.55
0.53
4.17
4.27
4.61
4.61
4.70
4.31
4.56
4.08
4.61
6.30
55.71
21.56
15.54
1.37
0.11
1.80
1.27
1.69
0.84
0.11
46.94
4.20
527
204
147
13
1
17
12
16
8
1
0.71
%
sexually
mature
SD Albumen SD Capsule SD Pallial SD %
gland
gland
oviduct
para(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
sited
SD Prostate
length
(mm)
Aperture SD Penis
height
length
(mm)
(mm)
837
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Males
Results
SD
% of
Shell
females height
(mm)
Sex or
Number
% of
imposex of
total
stage
specimens
Table 1 Hydrobia ulvae. Morphometrical data of males, females and different imposex stages. For definition of imposex stages see Results Imposex measurement and indices (SD
standard deviation; ND not determined)
258
259
260
Fig. 2 Hydrobia ulvae. a SEM
photograph of a male mud
snail. b Transverse section of
the male penis. c SEM photograph of a normal female (Stage
0). d Transverse section of the
capsule gland. e, f SEM photographs of sterilized females
without imposex; in f with split
capsule gland and abortive egg
capsules (ac abortive capsules;
cgo closed genital openings;
ct ctenidium; r rectum; t tentacle; other abbreviations as in
Fig. 1)
muscular tissue. The pallial part of the female reproductive organ is represented by a glandular complex.
This can be divided into a proximal albumen gland
embedded in the tissue of the visceral hump and the
more distally situated capsule gland positioned in the
central region of the mantle roof (Fig. 1b). Both glands
fuse to form a mass with a common lumen. The division
of the lumen of the capsule, or nidamental gland, into a
dorsal ovipar and a ventral vaginal channel is a distinctive mark dividing the glands (Fig. 1b). The central
channel of the albumen gland does not resemble this
structure and has a nondivided lumen. Thus the ovipar
channel extends through the whole length of the gland
complex. Oocytes are discharged into the mantle cavity
from an inconspicuous opening hidden by the vaginal
261
Imposex development
As imposex describes a morphological phenomenon
based on the masculinisation of dioecious prosobranch
species, females exhibit a superimposition of male sex
characteristics. In extreme cases this leads to sterilisation
and death of the affected specimens (Fig. 2e, f ). In
Hydrobia ulvae imposex development can be described
by a classification scheme (Stages 0 to 4 and in addition
Stage 5 which represents a sterile female without male
sex characteristics) (Fig. 3), including two different paths
of evolution and a gradual increase of masculinisation in
females. The a-types within this scheme are females
which first produce a penis and then gradually develop a
vas deferens by Stage 3a. In the b-path the occurrence of
male organs is vice versa; the formation of a vas deferens
portion initiates the process which is completed with the
appearance of a penis in Stage 3b.
Within the a-line, Stage 1 (Figs. 3, 4a) represents a
female with a penis primordium but without a penis duct
(Fig. 4b). In Stage 2a (Figs. 3, 4c,d) a penis duct is then
formed and the extension of the copulatory organ increases (Table 1). A distal vas deferens section appears
at the base of the penis in Stage 3a (Figs. 3, 4e) and
grows toward the genital apertures. Stage 4 sees the
completion of imposex development as a continuous vas
deferens connects the female orifices with the penis base
(Figs. 3, 4f ).
Directly in front of the vulva a gutter-like depression
can be found in Stage 1b (Figs. 3, 5a). This is modified
towards Stage 2b to become a completely closed vas
deferens running above the bottom of the mantle cavity,
ending at the corresponding male position at the mud
snails neck (Figs. 3, 5b). In contrast to the male vas
deferens, the corresponding female structure is not necessarily of an elevated (Fig. 5b) but can also be of a
lowered (Fig. 5c, d) appearance, making it more difficult
to identify the structure. In Stage 3b a penis primordium
without a penis duct, which increases in size and length
is developed; a penis duct then appears in Stage 4
(Figs. 3, 5d). In general the percentage of imposex-affected females in our investigation was about 44.3%
262
Fig. 3 Hydrobia ulvae. Imposex
development scheme with four
different stages. Stage 5 represents a sterilized female without
male characteristics (e eye; pp
penis primordium; other abbreviations as in Figs. 1 and 2)
Parasitism
The investigations of Krull (1935) and Rothschild (1938)
are important references for the ability of Hydrobia ulvae
to exhibit signs of imposex irrespective of TBT exposure.
These papers give evidence that the masculinisation of
H. ulvae females was already known well before environmental organotin pollution existed. Both authors
263
Fig. 4 Hydrobia ulvae. Different imposex stages of the apath. a SEM photograph of
Stage 1. b Transverse section of
the female penis primordium
of Stage 1. c SEM photograph
of Stage 2. d Transverse section
of the female penis of Stage 2.
e SEM photograph of Stage 3.
f SEM photograph of Stage 4
( pp penis primordium; r rectum; t tentacle; other abbreviations as in Fig. 1)
affected specimens in comparison with unaffected females (Chi-square test: v2 8:24 , p < 0.01); in the
comparison between males and unaffected females
v2 14:72 ( p < 1). The analysed infested H. ulvae
specimens harboured a great variety of larval trematodes; sporocysts, redia and cercaria were observable but
a determination of the different species was not performed.
These results do not negate the fact that virilisation
of female mud snails can also be caused by parasitism,
but on no account can this be the decisive and only
reason for imposex development. If this were so, 100%
of the imposex-affected females should have parasites.
As the percentage of parasitism in all analysed pseudohermaphrodites was only approximately 15.9% and
264
Fig. 5 Hydrobia ulvae. SEM
photographs of the different
imposex stages of the b-path.
a Stage 1; b Stage 2; c Stage 3;
and d Stage 4 (cgo closed
genital openings; oga open
genital apertures; pp penis
primordium; other abbreviations as in Fig. 1)
Graham (1994). Although the present results are basically in agreement with those of the authors above, there
are minor differences in respect to the female reproductive tract. While Krull (1935), Falniowski (1988) and
Fretter and Graham (1994) described the bursa copulatrix and the receptaculum seminis as two pouch-like
bulges of the proximal oviduct section, we were unable
to discover a receptaculum in this form. Sperm are
stored in the distal region of the coiled part of the renal
oviduct. In transverse serial sections sperm could also be
Number of specimens
Number parasitized
Relative amount (%)
Males
837
147
17.6
527
59
11.2
419
66
15.9
265
266
Acknowledgement This study was supported by the Umweltbundesamt, Berlin (R & D Project 102 40 303).
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