Warmer waters masculinize wild populations of a fish with temperature-dependent sex determination.

ABSTRACT: Southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) exhibit environmental sex determination (ESD), where environmental factors can influence phenotypic sex during early juvenile development but only in the presumed XX female genotype. Warm and cold temperatures masculinize fish with mid-range conditions producing at most 50% females. Due to sexually dimorphic growth, southern flounder fisheries are dependent upon larger females. Wild populations could be at risk of masculinization from ESD due to globally increasing water temperatures. We evaluated the effects of habitat and temperature on wild populations of juvenile southern flounder in North Carolina, USA. While northern habitats averaged temperatures near 23 °C and produced the greatest proportion of females, more southerly habitats exhibited

SUBMITTER: Honeycutt JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6483984 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature