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Publication
11-ketotestosterone stimulates putative sex pheromone production in the male peacock blenny, Salaria pavo (Risso 1810)
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Male peacock blennies (Salaria pavo) release odors from their anal glands and, possibly, from their gonads that attract reproductive females. The current study investigated the effects of 11-ketotestosterone (KT) on development of the anal glands, testes, and accessory testicular organs as well as the subsequent olfactory potency of their secretions. After 3 wk of KT treatment (5 mg/kg in silastic implants), clusters of cells secreting neutral mucins differentiated in the anal gland of all treated males, whereas this occurred in only one control male. Secretions by anal glands from KT-treated males elicited greater olfactory responses, as assessed by electro-olfactography, than those from controls. Treatment with KT stimulated testicular gland growth and sialomucin secretion but had no clear effect on the germinal region of the testis; KT also stimulated enlargement of, and fluid secretion in, the blind pouches (paired evaginations of the
spermatic ducts). Secretions by the testes and fluid in blind pouches from KT-treated males elicited greater olfactory responses than those from controls. In conclusion, KT stimulates development of the anal glands and testicular accessory organs and promotes odorant secretion, the putative multicomponent male peacock blenny pheromone.
Description
Keywords
Anal gland Androgens Behavior Olfaction Pheromones Electro-olfactogram Male reproductive tract Teleost Blenniidae Implantation Reproduction Steroid hormones Testes
Citation
Rui M. Serrano; Orlando Lopes; Peter C. Hubbard; Jorge Araújo; Adelino V. M. Canário; Eduardo N. Barata. 11-Ketotestosterone Stimulates Putative Sex Pheromone Production in the Male Peacock Blenny, Salaria pavo (Risso 1810), BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION, 79, 861-868, 2008.
Publisher
Society for the Study of Reproduction