Imposex en Voluta musica (Caenogastropoda: Volutidae) en el Noreste de la Península de Araya, Venezuela

PERALTA A.C; MILOSLAVICH, P.; BIGATTI G.

REVISTA DE BIOLOGíA TROPICAL

REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA TROPICAL

Lugar: Turrialba; Año: 2014 vol. 62 p. 523 - 532

0034-7744

Voluta musica is a dioecious marine gastropod endemic of the South Caribbean. Tributyltin (TBT)and copper (Cu) are potential inducers of imposex, an endocrine disorder by which females develop a penisand/or vas deferens. The goal of this work was to determine the imposex incidence in V. musica populationsfrom Northeastern Península de Araya. For this, we selected three sites (Isla Caribe, Isla Lobos and Bajo Cuspe)and made monthly samplings of 15 snails in each site, during one year, and determined: (1) sizes; (2) sex andimposex incidence and (3) the Relative Penis Length Index (RPLI). We also performed histological analysisof the gonads, and measured TBT and Cu concentrations in sediments from the studied localities. Our resultsshowed that the total number of sampled females affected by imposex was 24.5% at Isla Caribe, 12% at IslaLobos, and none at Bajo Cuspe. In sediments, Cu was detected mostly in Isla Lobos. The female gonads withimposex did not show any development of male cells in any of the sampled sites. The higher percentage offemales with imposex matched with the higher boat traffic locality, and higher TBT level (Isla Caribe). Noesterilization was evident in this work, nevertheless, the presence of TBT and Cu in the sediments and femaleswith imposex were considered as a potential threat to V. musica populations in this region. In Venezuela there isno control over this particular issue, possibly because of the lack of information and research in this topic, butcertainly, this information will be useful in biodiversity conservation policies