| Title: | The antidepressant fluoxetine alters mechanisms of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection in the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) |
| Author(s): | Bertram MG; Ecker TE; Wong BBM; O'Bryan MK; Baumgartner JB; Martin JM; Saaristo M; |
| Address: | "School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: michael.g.bertram@monash.edu. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; The Development and Stem Cells Program of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Department of Biosciences, Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.03.006 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1873-6424 (Electronic) 0269-7491 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Contamination of aquatic habitats with pharmaceuticals is a major environmental concern. Recent studies have detected pharmaceutical pollutants in a wide array of ecosystems and organisms, with many of these contaminants being highly resistant to biodegradation and capable of eliciting sub-lethal effects in non-target species. One such pollutant is fluoxetine, a widely prescribed antidepressant, which is frequently detected in surface waters globally and can alter physiology and behaviour in aquatic organisms. Despite this, relatively little is known about the potential for fluoxetine to disrupt mechanisms of sexual selection. Here, we investigate the impacts of 30-day exposure to two environmentally realistic levels of fluoxetine (low and high) on mechanisms of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection in the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). We tested 1) male mating behaviour in the absence or presence of a competitor male, and 2) sperm quality and quantity. We found that high-fluoxetine exposure increased male copulatory behaviour in the absence of a competitor, while no effect was detected under male-male competition. Further, fluoxetine exposure at both concentrations increased total sperm count relative to males from the control group, while no significant change in sperm quality was observed. Lastly, low-fluoxetine males showed a significant reduction in condition index (mass relative to length). Our study is the first to show altered mechanisms of both pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection in an aquatic species resulting from environmentally realistic fluoxetine exposure, highlighting the capacity of pharmaceutical pollution to interfere with sensitive reproductive processes in wildlife" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Antidepressive Agents/*toxicity Cyprinodontiformes/*physiology Environmental Exposure Fluoxetine/*toxicity Male Reproduction/*drug effects Water Pollutants, Chemical/*toxicity Antidepressant Behavioural ecotoxicology Fluoxetine Pharmaceutical poll;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineBertram, Michael G Ecker, Tiarne E Wong, Bob B M O'Bryan, Moira K Baumgartner, John B Martin, Jake M Saaristo, Minna eng England 2018/03/24 Environ Pollut. 2018 Jul; 238:238-247. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.03.006. Epub 2018 Mar 20" |
