M4 AM Endocrine Disruption in Fish
Monday, 14 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Ballroom 4

(MEN-1117-738508) Endocrine disruption in winter flounder from the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary.

Mena, L¹, Pesa, M¹, Dove, A¹, McElroy, A¹, ¹ Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

ABSTRACT- The New/New Jersey Harbor Estuary receives sewage input from more than 10 million people, along with run-off from combined sewer overflows, industrial discharges and coastal landfills. These inputs have resulted in some of the most contaminated sediments in the nation. We have been studying winter flounder, Pleuronectes americanus, as a model benthic organism to assess potential endocrine disruption in this urban estuary. Non spawning adult founder from an area known to contain high levels of nonylphenol and estradiol in sediments in Jamaica Bay show subtle sex specific alterations in plasma sex steroid levels and vitellogenin (VTG) as compared to reference fish. There is also evidence of altered expression and activity of CYP1A forms in these fish. A wider survey of young-of-the-year (YOY) flounder from multiple sites within Jamaica Bay shows widespread evidence of elevated VTG, indicating increased sensitivity of younger fish. Histopathological evaluation of the gonads showed skewed sex ratios indicating that the numbers of male fish are very limited in Jamaica Bay both in adult and YOY populations as compared to other sites evaluated. Ongoing work is being done to assess the status of flounder from other areas in the harbor, and effects of contaminated sediment exposure on developing embryos. This additional information should provide us with a more complete picture of endocrine disruption on resident flatfish in a major urban estuary.

Key words: vitellogenin, hormones, endocrine disruption, histopathology