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Occurrence Of Ovotestes And Plasma Vitellogenin In Feral Male Fathead Minnows From Lagoons Of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities In Central Iowa, Robert B. Bringolf, Robert C. Summerfelt

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Since the early 1990s, endocrine disrupting compounds have been recognized as an important environmental threat. Male fish exposed to effluent from large, metropolitan municipal wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) have developed reproductive abnormalities including ovotestes and elevated levels of plasma vitellogenin (Vtg), a plasma protein typically produced by egg-laying females. In the summer of 2000, gonads and plasma Vtg concentrations were examined in feral male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) collected from lagoons of 11 small, rural municipal WWTFs and a reference site (a national wildlife refuge) in Iowa. Fathead minnows were captured in traps from five of the 33 lagoons (three …