Meeting Abstract
Trenbolone, a testosterone mimic that is often used in the cattle industry, has potential to act as an endocrine disrupting chemical affecting wildlife near cattle feed lots. With three times the bonding affinity as testosterone and a nine month half-life, trenbolone has been found in the runoff and waste of cattle feed lots (Orlando 2004, Bartelt-Hunt 2012). The continued use of trenbolone in the cattle industry could pose a threat to the freshwater environment of the mosquitofish, which are often placed in ponds near cattle as an alternative mosquito control method. Our previous research has show that Trenbolone, at the ecologically relevant levels of 5ng/L and 10ng/L, to have significant effects on the eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki in a laboratory setting. These effects include changes in mosquitofish mating behavior and masculinization of the female reproductive tract. Here we show replicated results of the influence trenbolone has on morphological changes, mating behavior, and female masculinization of the reproductive tract, with the addition of the effects of trenbolone on same-sex interactions.
