Androgen Implants Mediate Arginine Vasotocin Expression in the Preoptic Area of a Sex Reversing Fish

TP males have siginificantly more AVT-ir cells in the forebrain preoptic area and those cells are significantly larger than either IP sex. The graphs show average AVT-ir cell size (left) and average AVT-ir cell count (right) for the control groups of all three sexual phases of bluehead wrasse. Numbers in parentheses are sample sizes, letters indicate significant differences and column/error bars represent the mean +/- standard error.

 

11-Ketotestosterone-implanted TP males show a significant elevation of serum levels of this hormone. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was performed on plasma samples of TP males. The RIA was done at the University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal by Adelino Canario. Letters indicate significant differences and column/error bars represent the mean +/- standard error (ANOVA, p<.02)(n=19).