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Physiological problems of teleost ambisexuality

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Synopsis

The normal occurrence of spontaneous sex inversion among teleosts is a recent item within current concepts on vertebrate reproductive physiology. Investigations on the subject are mostly descriptive and deal with morphological and behavioral aspects. The concept of social control of sex inversion has been received with great interest. However, research on physiological processes that take place inside a fish when it changes sex must be rated as fragmentary. Steroid hormones are supposed to play a major role in sex inversion. But a cause and effect relationship has not yet been established. More experimental studies on more types of ambisexual species are badly needed. Future work will show whether recent findings on H-Y antigen might open a new approach to answering some of our questions.

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  1. Institut für Zoologie, Universität Mainz, Saarstrasse 21, D 6500, Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany

    Rudolf Reinboth

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  1. Rudolf Reinboth
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Hans M. Peters on his 80th birthday.

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Reinboth, R. Physiological problems of teleost ambisexuality. Environ Biol Fish 22, 249–259 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004891

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