Reproductive effects assessment of largemouth bass and bluegill in the Watts Bar Lake/Clinch River system
Conference
·
OSTI ID:212052
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
Successful reproduction is key to the survival and maintenance of viable fish populations and therefore an important consideration in ecological risk assessments. In order to evaluate the reproductive health of fish in the Watts Bar Lake/Clinch River system downstream of the Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge, TN, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) were collected from seven sites at the beginning of the spawning period and a suite of parameters indicative of reproductive condition were measured. Measures of reproductive condition common to male and female fish included gonadal somatic index (GSI), and plasma concentrations of reproductive hormones. Gender specific analyses included a histological examination of the testes in males and a quantitative evaluation of ovarian parameters in females including determinations of fecundity, the number of vitellogenic and atretic oocytes, and the incidences of ovarian parasites. Evidence of reproductive impairment in largemouth bass at the two sites immediately adjacent to the Oak Ridge Reservation included lower GSIs and reproductive hormone levels (males and females), and reduced fecundity and an increase in the number of atretic oocytes (females). Similar trends were not observed in bluegill sunfish. These findings suggest that reproduction in a top-level predatory fish species, the largemouth bass, may be negatively affected by activities on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
- OSTI ID:
- 212052
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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