Effect of a mercurial fungicide on the gonadal development of the teleostean fish Channa punctatus (Bloch).

Channa punctatus exposed to a "safe" concentration of 0.20 ppm of a commercial mercurial fungicide, Emisan (MeEHgCl), for 6 months, from January to June, exhibited significant inhibition of gonadal development as evidenced by their histology and reduced gonadosomatic index. Degenerative changes were also evident. Correlative histological changes were also noted in the pituitary gonadotrophs which were reduced in the exposed fish. Several stage I oocytes exhibited proteinaceous extra and intranuclear "inclusion bodies," and intranuclear "ring-like bodies" associated with the ultimate degeneration of the oocytes. These observations suggest that MeEHgCl inhibits gonadal development through the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in this species.