Pollution in the Black Sea with heavy metals and rising global temperatures are forcing mollusks to change sex.
This conclusion was reached by scientists from the Feodosia Research Center of the Russian Institute of Marine Biology. The research findings were published in the scientific journal Regional Studies in Marine Science.
Biologists have discovered that stress can cause females to transform into males or into hermaphrodites (intersex). These transformations could negatively impact mussel populations in the context of global warming and human-induced stressors.
"For the first time, we have direct experimental evidence that heat stress can cause a sex reversal in mussels, and that sensitivity to this factor is age-dependent," said Mark Popov, senior researcher in the Department of Aquaculture and Marine Pharmacology.
Biologists have obtained confirmation that harmful environmental factors are linked not only to the death of mollusks but also to the remodeling of the reproductive system, as some marine organisms that initially developed as females began, after exposure to stress, to produce male sex cells, or both male and female sex cells.
Marine biologists point out that a single study cannot declare a catastrophe for all Black Sea mussels. However, warming and pollution could simultaneously increase mortality rates and reduce the proportion of females in populations. Experts are particularly concerned about semi-enclosed bays near cities, where mussel reproduction is severely threatened.
It is worth noting that mussels are living biological filters that the marine ecosystem relies on. While obtaining their food, the mollusk draws in water through a siphon, pushes it through its gills to capture particles, and then expels the purified water.
