Gender-bending fish study in Alberta
Posted Jul 29, 2010 12:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
University of Calgary researchers studying the impact of chemical contamination in southern Alberta rivers have found that a virtual cocktail of chemicals is threatening certain species of fish.
The study links chemicals found in the Red Deer and Old Man Rivers to the feminization of fish.
Researchers found females make up 85 per cent of a native species of minnow. Professor Lee Jackson says up to 10 per cent of the males are carrying eggs rather than sperm.
“The real ratio for reproduction is probably more like five per cent male and 95 per cent female, and that has consequences to the long-term population viability,” he said.
Jackson says it’s unclear what kind of impact these chemicals might have on human health, but adds these minnows are sending a strong message that we’d best start looking into it.
