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Imposex in Australian Conus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Alan J. Kohn  and
Kama N. Almasi
Alan J. Kohn
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
Kama N. Almasi
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA Division of Environmental Studies, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
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Extract

Previously unknown in Conus (Mollusca: Gastropoda) and poorly documented in the Australian region, imposex is demonstrated in 80% of females of six Conus species from Rottnest Island, Western Australia. In no case were the effects sufficiently severe to cause sterility, and reproduction appeared normal. Specimens from the same location preserved in 1975 were unaffected. With more than 500 species, Conus is the largest genus of marine molluscs. Because many species are conspicuous, widely distributed, and occur in populations whose past densities are known, they could serve as monitors of artificially induced pseudohermaphroditism and an early warning of future population responses to pollutants in marine environments at low latitudes.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 73 , Issue 1 , February 1993 , pp. 241 - 244
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

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