Gender problems with fish off Californian Coast (moved from ATSNN), page 1

posted on Nov, 20 2005 @ 12:51 PM

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Not far from the Southern Californian coast scientists have found fish that are "sexually altered". This now brings up questions about sewage that is leeked into the ocean. It is thought that the sewage could effect the reproductive system in animals. These "Gender-bending" fish are not new to science, however before most all cases were in freshwater animals. Around 1 billion gallons of treated sewage is dumped into the Pacific every DAY. While the sewage is treated, it still has "contaminants" that fall to the ocean floor.

www.foxnews.com
LOS ANGELES — Scientists have discovered sexually altered fish off the Southern California coast, raising concerns that treated sewage discharged into the ocean contains chemicals that can affect an animal's reproductive system.

So-called intersex animals are not new, but most previous instances were in freshwater. Environmentalists say this is among the first studies to document the effects in a marine environment.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I hope that the environment does not keep following this patern of mutation. There seems to be a lot of unoticed deffects with animals, people, and plants today. And it is only to get worse; the way things are going. Could there possibly be fish at sometime that are asexual?

[edit on 20-11-2005 by nonpoint]

[edit on 20-11-2005 by nonpoint]

Nygdan

posted on Nov, 21 2005 @ 09:57 AM

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To be clear, this is not a mutation. Many animals have the ability to change their sex in their lifetime, males will become females and vice versa. This is thought to be an evolutionary adaptation. The idea is that an individual will need to be able to breed with any mates that come along, regardless of that mate's sex. So if an individual finds itself in a population that just happens to be one sex or the other, then it will change to the oppositte sex so that it can breed with the greatest number of mates. What triggers these changes can be pheremones or any number of chemical stimuli.

One Man Short of Manhood

posted on Nov, 21 2005 @ 03:53 PM

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So this happened off the coast of Clalifonria, which puts it under the law of California, right?

Since Arnold thinks he can control everything from steroid use to China trade, can't he just pass a law to make it illegal for a fish to cross the line?

Seriously, this could have a very long term effect on the fish population, especially if more and more species become affected.

To answer you question:

Could there possibly be fish at sometime that are asexual?

Yes, but only one generation of them then its...well "sleep with the fishies" time for it's species!

- One Man Short