Imposex of Mauritia arabica on the south-eastern coast of China

Abstract

Imposex, the development of male sexual organs in female gastropods, is mainly induced by organotin compounds used as biocides in antifouling paints. As part of our continued efforts to report the occurrence of imposex gastropods along the coast of mainland China, this study investigates the imposex prevalence in Mauritia arabica (Mesogastropod: Cypraeidae). A total of 529 adults were collected from 11 sites in south-eastern China between March 2001 and June 2005. Of these, 303 were females and 226 were males. Imposex is classified into six stages representing the sequence from the initial appearance of the seminal groove or small penis (S1) to the point when this duct blocks the pallial oviduct and aborted egg capsules appear (S6). All six stages of imposex were found in M. arabica with three different types (a, b and c) of expression in stages 1 and 3, two types (a and b) in stage 2, and one type in stages 4, 5, and 6. Imposex development was also measured by various indices such as the vas deferens sequence index (VDS), female penis length (FPL), percentage of affected females (%I), the relative penis length (RPL), and relative penis size (RPS—the cubed form of RPL). Imposex individuals were found in all 11 sites with %I ranged from 26% to 100%. Excluding the data from site 3 (with only one female and one male), VDS scores ranged from 1.05 to 4.07, with an average of 2.86, and the RPL ranged from 0.9 to 56.8. High correlations were observed among VDS, FPL, %I, RPL, and the RPS. Our findings suggest that M. arabica is an ideal bioindicator for organotin pollution along the south-eastern coast of China, and can be used in conjunction with the rock shell, Thais clavigera, a well-established bioindicator of tributyltin and triphenyltin contamination. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed report of imposex in M. arabica.