Meeting Abstract

BERN.1  Tuesday, Jan. 5  Haruspication: Why Is The Endocrine System So Similar and Why Is It So Dissimilar Amongst Fishes? SCHRECK, C.B.; Oregon State University carl.schreck@oregonstate.edu

The endocrine system of teleost fishes is remarkably stereotypic. However, this “fact” is contradicted by another, that there is a large amount of variation in the endocrinology between individuals, species and higher taxa. That fish go through a “typical” corticosteroid stress response as well established is an example of the former contention. That some stressors cause a corticosteroid stress response while others do not or that the same stressor can result if a quite different corticosteroid stress response between two healthy individuals of the same species, are examples of the latter assertion. In this paper I attempt to explain these apparent discrepancies using examples from the endocrinology of stress, development and reproduction. My sense is that they result from a lack of clarity concerning the taxonomy and systematics of our study animals, a paucity of knowledge concerning life history variation, and use of study animals that are inbred or have undergone domestication selection. Many endocrine processes are non-linear, in fact they can be bimodal; such hormetic responses can confound interpretation. Further, my perception is that these problems are compounded by the imprecision in our science; we often do not differentiate between theory and fact. This leads to conclusions that, tongue in cheek, are basically haruspication, something that Howard Bern recognized and shared with us as rapporteur of a meeting many years ago.