A ranking system for the evaluation of intersex condition in european flounder (Platichthys flesus)

Abstract

Intersex (ovotestis) is the condition whereby an individual possesses oocytes, at varying degrees of severity, within the normal testicular tissue and is regarded as an endpoint of endocrine disruption in male fish. The occurrence of intersex has been linked with exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds present in the environment, which are thought to mimic the actions of the female sex hormone 17-beta-oestradiol. Using stained histological sections of archived cases of intersex from European flounder (Platichthys flesus), this study developed a grading method to assess the extent of the condition. This was termed the ovotestis severity index (OSI). The OSI utilizes the distribution pattern (focal, diffuse, cluster, zonal) and type of oocyte (previtellogenic, cortical alveolar, vitellogenic) to assign a severity rating to each intersex fish. A high OSI refers to fish with testicular material almost completely replaced with mature (vitellogenic) oocytes, and lower scores indicate those fish with small numbers of immature (previtellogenic) oocytes. The development of this index provides pathologists with a robust tool for the grading of the intersex condition in European flounder and potentially in other fish species.