Recent studies have reported a number of abnormalities in the hatchling and juvenile alligators of Lake Apopka, FL (USA). These abnormalities include modifications of plasma concentrations of sex steroids in males and females as well as abnormalities in gonadal morphology, gonadal enzyme activity, and steroidogenesis. Embryonic exposure to environmental contaminants in the eggs has been hypothesized to be the causal agent for these changes. However, posthatchling exposure can also contribute to changes in reproductive and endocrine functioning. We have detected serum concentrations of 16 of 18 organochlorine pesticides or metabolites (OCs) and 23 of 28 congener-specific polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) examined in juvenile alligators from Lake Apopka, Orange Lake, and Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. Lake Apopka juveniles had significantly elevated serum concentrations of p,p′-DDE, dieldrin, endrin, mirex, oxychlordane, ΣDDTs, and ΣPCBs compared to juveniles from the other lakes. Further, we observed no correlations between serum contaminant concentrations and sex steroid concentrations (estradiol-17β and testosterone). However, serum testosterone was significantly lower in males from Lake Apopka and Orange Lake compared to Lake Woodruff NWR. We did not observe relationships between phallus size or other body parameters and serum contaminant levels. Phallus size was smaller in males from Lake Apopka even after adjustment for body size. We suggest that the observations previously reported for juvenile alligators—and observed again in this study—are apparently not associated with the current serum levels of the environmental contaminants we measured, but could be due to exposures during embryonic development to these or other pollutants. Future studies must determine if a causal relationship exists between the contaminants found in alligator eggs and abnormalities observed in the hatchlings and persisting in juveniles.

Serum Concentrations of Various Environmental Contaminants and Their Relationship to Sex Steroid Concentrations and Phallus Size in Juvenile American Alligators

Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in nearshore waters of Lake Michigan grow faster than lake trout residing offshore on Sheboygan Reef, which is in midlake. We examined the stomachs of lake trout, spanning ages 1 through 16, caught in both nearshore and offshore environments of Lake Michigan during 1994 and 1995 to determine whether diet differences may be responsible for the difference in growth rate. A comparison of the diets, coupled with bioenergetics modeling, indicated that juvenile lake trout on Sheboygan Reef experienced slow growth due to low food availability rather than to cold water temperatures. The availability of appropriate-size prey appeared to regulate lake trout growth. Small prey fish were probably not readily available to small (200- to 399-mm total length) lake trout on Sheboygan Reef, a substantial portion of whose diet consisted of invertebrates; in contrast, nearshore juveniles had a nearly 100% fish diet. Growth rate on the reef remained slow through intermediate lake trou...

Ontogenic and Spatial Patterns in Diet and Growth of Lake Trout in Lake Michigan

Contaminant Trends in Lake Trout and Walleye From the Laurentian Great Lakes

Influence of pH and TOC concentration on Cu, Zn, Cd, and Al speciation in rivers.

Great Lakes Fisheries Policy and Management: A Binational Perspective

Patterns of Organochlorine Contamination in Lake Trout from Wisconsin Waters of the Great Lakes

To determine if water quality-based effluent limitations recommended for a proposed discharger would provide adequate protection of aquatic life, site-specific acute toxicity tests were performed. The proposed discharger studied was a mine to be located in northern Wisconsin. The mine's discharge would flow into the Flambeau River, a relatively pristine river that harbors endangered freshwater mussels. The toxicity effects of synthetic effluents, representing a mixture of five different metals under contrasting conditions of hardness, were tested on several different organisms. Results indicated that Ceriodaphnia dubia exhibited a much greater sensitivity to various mixtures of cadmium, hexavalent chromium, copper, nickel, and zinc than did either larval fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) or the freshwater mussel Anodonta imbectlis. Mixtures of metals at the permitted discharge levels of individual metals were also found to be consistently toxic to C. dubia. Because C. dubia was found to be much more sensitive than A. imbecilis, an effluent safe for C. dubia should also be safe for A. imbecilis and the physiologically similar endangered mussels found in the river. Based on such testing, aquatic life toxicity-testing conditions and criteria suggested for the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit should be protective of C. dubia and, hence, other aquatic life such as endangered mussels. Overall, effluent limitations for proposed dischargers need to be based on the combined effect of complex effluents. Aquatic toxicity testing using synthetic effluents that approximate the expected discharge characteristics provides a viable approach to determining the limits for proposed dischargers of multiple pollutants.

Comparative acute toxicity of a synthetic mine effluent to Ceriodaphnia dubia, larval fathead minnow and the freshwater mussel Anodonta imbecilis

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) has been the predominant piscivore in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario since the 1970s, and therefore accurate quantification of its energy budget is needed for effective management of Great Lakes fisheries. A new approach of evaluating a fish bioenergetics model in the field involves field estimation of the efficiency with which the fish retains PCBs from its food. We used diet information, PCB determinations in both chinook salmon and their prey, and bioenergetics modeling to generate a field estimate of the efficiency with which Lake Michigan chinook salmon retain PCBs from their food. Our field estimate is the most reliable field estimate to date because (a) the estimate was based on a relatively high number (N = 142) of PCB determinations for chinook salmon from Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan in 1985, (b) a relatively long time series (1978-1988) of detailed observations on chinook salmon diet in Lake Michigan was available, and (c) the estimate incorporated new information from analyses of chinook salmon age and growth during the 1980s and 1990s in Lake Michigan. We estimated that chinook salmon from Lake Michigan retain 53% of the PCBs that are contained within their food.

Robert G. Masnado

Papers

Patterns of Organochlorine Contamination in Lake Trout from Wisconsin Waters of the Great Lakes

Comparative acute toxicity of a synthetic mine effluent to Ceriodaphnia dubia, larval fathead minnow and the freshwater mussel Anodonta imbecilis

Field estimate of net trophic transfer efficiency of PCBs to Lake Michigan chinook salmon from their prey