Olfactory and sexual attractiveness of western mosquitofish (gambusia affinis) exposed to the commonly used insecticide endosulfan
Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: To know whether a short‐term exposure to a commonly used insecticide induces subtle negative toxic effects, female western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, were exposed to 0.1, 0.5, and 1 ppb endosulfan for one week and subsequently examined for their olfactory and sexual attractiveness to conspecific males. A short‐term exposure to endosulfan did not impair the physical conditions investigated in this study nor did it disrupt olfactory attractiveness of female mosquitofish. However, 1 ppb endosulfan significantly reduced sexual attractiveness of exposed females. Test males showed significantly less copulation attempts with the exposed females. Our results suggest that in the field, a short term exposure of endosulfan may disrupt mating processes in non‐targeted aquatic organisms.
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Northern Arizona University
OpenAlex ID: W1981909092