Gonadal differentiation and effects of temperature on sex determination in southern flounder ( Paralichthys lethostigma)

Abstract

Southern flounder ( Paralichthys lethostigma) support valuable North American fisheries and show great promise for aquaculture. Because females grow faster and reach larger adult sizes than males, monosex culture of females is desirable for commercial operations. A detailed understanding of sexual development and its timing is critical to control sex and optimize culture. Structural and cellular sex-distinguishing markers were identified histologically, and then used to describe ovarian development in female and testicular development in male flounder. In presumptive ovaries of southern flounder, development of an ovarian cavity first occurs in fish ranging from 75 to 100 mm total length (TL). This is considerably delayed relative to that observed in the Japanese congener, Paralichthys olivaceus, where an ovarian cavity is seen in fish as small as 40 mm TL. The smallest southern flounder that possessed primary oocytes in the early perinucleolus stage was 115 mm TL. In presumptive testes, the formation of seminiferous tubules first occurs in fish of approximately 100 mm TL. Spermatogonia remained quiescent until most fish were over 100 mm TL. Overall, gonads from southern flounder greater than 120 mm TL commonly possess gonial cells undergoing meiosis, clearly differentiating sex. The effect of temperature on sex determination in southern flounder was addressed in a separate experiment. Juvenile southern flounder were grown at 18, 23, or 28°C for 245 days. High and low temperatures induced phenotypic sex reversal in juvenile southern flounder, producing a higher proportion of males (96% males at high temperature, P<0.001, 78% males at low temperature, P<0.01). Raising southern flounder at the midrange temperature held sex ratios close to 1:1. Sex ratios from these trials suggest that southern flounder possess a temperature-sensitive mechanism of sex determination similar to that shown for P. olivaceus, but possibly shifted towards warmer temperatures. These findings indicate that sex differentiation in southern flounder is distinguishable in most fish by 100–120 mm TL and that sex determination is sensitive to temperature. This information is critical to the development of strategies to maximize the number of faster-growing females for commercial flounder culture.