The use of the dog-whelk, Nucella lapillus, as an indicator of tributyltin (TBT) contamination
Year: 1987
Type: article
Abstract: The term ‘imposex’ was coined by Smith (1971) to describe the superimposition of male characters onto unparasitized and parasitized females of gonochoristic gastropods. In Nassarius obsoletus (Say) the development of imposex results in the female having one or more of the following characters: (1) a penis with a duct leading to (2) a vas deferens which passes back to the ventral channel of the capsule gland and (3) convolution of the normally straight gonadial oviduct (Smith, 1980). Imposex in the similarly gonochoristic Nucella lapillus (L.) was first noted by Blaber (1970) who found females with penis-like outgrowths in Plymouth Sound populations. Subsequent studies (Bryan et al. 1986; Gibbs & Bryan, 1986) have demonstrated that the incidence and intensity of imposex have since increased markedly in the same populations and that the phenomenon is widespread around south-west England.
Authors: P. E. Gibbs, G. W. Bryan, P. L. Pascoe, G. R. Burt
Institution: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Language: English
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2047880985