Olfactory and Sexual Attractiveness of Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) Exposed to the Commonly Used Insecticide Endosulfan

摘要

To know whether a short-term exposure to a commonly used insecticide induces subtle negative toxic effects, female western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, were exposed to 0.1, 0.5, and 1 ppb endosulfan for one week and subsequently examined for theirolfactory and sexual attractiveness to conspecific males. A short-term exposure to endosulfan did not impair the physical conditions investigated in this study nor did it disrupt olfactory attractiveness of female mosquitofish. However, 1 ppb endosulfansignificantly reduced sexual attractiveness of exposed females. Test males showed significantly less copulation attempts with the exposed females. Our results suggest that in the field, a short term exposure of endosulfan may disrupt mating processes innon-targeted aquatic organisms.