Drugs We Dump May Be Causing Sex Changes in Fish

by | Jan 8, 2016 | Conservation, Fish, Science | 1 comment

A new study found 85% of male smallmouth bass in the Northeast are undergoing a sex change. (AP Photo/Idaho Statesman, Roger Phillips)

Male bass are experiencing unwanted sex changes, apparently thanks to the “chemical soups” that pass for waterways in the Northeast. The Washington Post reports 85% of male smallmouth bass surveyed in the region have “characteristics of the opposite sex”—specifically eggs where their testes should be. The same is true of 27% of area largemouth bass, Vice adds. For a recently published study, researchers tested bass near 19 wildlife refuges in the Northeast, according to a US Geological Survey press release. Researchers didn’t do a chemical analysis of the water where the intersex fish were found, so they can’t be sure specifically what is MORE

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