A Male genital defect in the dog-whelk, Nucella lapillus (Neogastropoda), favouring survival in a TBT-polluted area

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Author: Gibbs, P. E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1993
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Dog whelk; Nucella lapillus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315400033208; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315400033208

Tributyltin (TBT) pollution has exterminated populations of the dog-whelk Nucella lapillus along most of the north Kent coast (Thames Estuary) but the species survives as a small enclave around the North Foreland. Males in this enclave exhibit an unusual defect involving the non-development or partial development of the genital system: about 10% lack penes, or have undersized penes, and their gonoducts (vas deferens and prostate) are incompletely developed; in some cases, spermatogenesis appears to be retarded. Laboratory-bred animals display the same characters. This deficiency (‘Dumpton Syndrome’) is manifest also in the atypical development of male sex organs on the females (‘imposex’) induced by exposure to tributyltin (TBT). The evidence points to Dumpton Syndrome being a genetic disorder which has lessened the sterilizing effect of imposex and thereby has permitted the survival of this isolated enclave in an area of high TBT pollution.