THE USE OF LITTORINA-LITTOREA FOR TRIBUTYLTIN (TBT) EFFECT MONITORINGRESULTS FROM THE GERMAN TBT SURVEY 1994 1995 AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS/

Field investigations and laboratory experiments were performed to test the applicability of the intersex phenomenon in Littorina littorea fo r biological TBT-effect monitoring and to give further insights into t oxicological aspects of intersex development. The intensity of the phe nomenon is correlated with the degree of TBT contamination in the envi ronment, Statistically highly significant correlations of biological i ndices and TBT concentrations in tissue and sediment exist, Inter sex can be induced only in juvenile and sexually immature females and its intensity depends on the ontogenetic stage of development during TBT e xposure, For the first time, malformations in male periwinkles closely related to the TBT contamination can be described; the reduction of m ale mamilliform penial glands shows highly significant correlations to TBT concentrations in tissues. The inter sex phenomenon in Littorina littorea is proposed for a biological TBT-effect monitoring in those a reas where the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus, as the more sensitive specie s in European survey's, is absent. The intersex index (ISl) as the mea n value of the intersex stages in a sample should he used as the most sensitive biological parameter fbr the assessment of the TBT contamina tion in Littorina littorea. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.