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First Record of Imposex in Euthria cornea (Neogastropoda: Buccinidae) Collected from the Complex Lagoon-Channel of Bizerta

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Abstract

Imposex has been widely used as an indicator of tributyltin (TBT) pollution, despite this, imposex was still not described in some gastropod species. This study reports, for the first time, the occurrence of imposex in Euthria cornea (Linnaeus, 1758) collected from the complex lagoon-channel of Bizerta. Imposex expression in Euthria cornea followed the a-pathway corresponding to the development of a bud penis before the vas deferens. Four stages (VDS1a, VDS2a, VDS3a and VDS4) were recognised in this gastropod. Imposex incidence (I%) was slightly higher in Bizerta Channel (100%) against (92.85%) in Bizerta lagoon without being significant. However, the degree of imposex (RPLI) was significantly higher in Bizerta lagoon 10.92 compared to Bizerta Channel 7.05. Similar was noted for the Vas deferens sequence index (VDSI) 2.76 in Bizerta lagoon and 2.02 in Bizerta Channel. While, female and male penis length (FPL and MPL) were higher in Bizerta Channel, 0.87 mm and 12.34 mm against 0.73 mm and 7.23 mm in Bizerta lagoon, respectively. Sterility was not observed in any Euthria cornea.

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  1. Faculty of Sciences of Bizerta. Laboratory of Environment Bio-monitoring, Group of Fundamental and Applied Malacology (LEB/GFAM), University of Carthage, 7021-Zarzouna, Bizerta, Tunisia

    Tahani El Ayari & Najoua Trigui El Menif

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  1. Tahani El Ayari
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Correspondence to Tahani El Ayari.

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El Ayari, T., El Menif, N.T. First Record of Imposex in Euthria cornea (Neogastropoda: Buccinidae) Collected from the Complex Lagoon-Channel of Bizerta. Thalassas 35, 87–93 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-018-0089-7

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