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Survival of Nucella lapillus in a tributyltin-polluted area in west Brittany: a further example of a male genital defect (Dumpton syndrome) favouring survival

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Abstract

A male genital defect was reported in a Nucella lapillus (L.) population at Dumpton Gap (England). This defect was termed “Dumpton syndrome” (DS) and appears to be a genetic feature. Its main characteristic is the absence of penis (aphally) in males and in females. In 1992, such a phenomenon was discovered in populations in the vicinity of Brest (Brittany, France). DS-affected females exhibit fewer tributyltin-induced imposex characteristics than expected in normal individuals. The percentage of female sterilization is thus lower, favouring population survival. In consequence, the DS is considered to be a “pollution-resistance” feature. Comparison with the Dumpton population revealed similarities and differences in the DS characteristics. It is thus hypothesized that the DS observed at the two locations is due to two different biological mechanisms. Indeed, aphallic males with a split prostate were observed but no underdevelopment of their vas deferens and testis was noted in the present study. In this gonochoristic gastropod species, the most DS-affected males in Brest possess an ovotestis and it is thus hypothesized that feminity is remnant in N. lapillus. Incidence of abnormality is ten times higher in females than in males. This suggested that a sex-difference operates in the Brest phenomenon.

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Communicated by A. Rodríguez, Puerto Real

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Huet, M., Paulet, Y.M. & Le Pennec, M. Survival of Nucella lapillus in a tributyltin-polluted area in west Brittany: a further example of a male genital defect (Dumpton syndrome) favouring survival. Marine Biology 125, 543–549 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353267

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353267

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