FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Biological Sciences (BIO A): BIO-3

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Fluctuating asymmetry in Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) as a bioindicator of pollution.  M. MCCULLAGH, E. PETRUCCELLI, and T.S. CAMPBELL. Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Tampa, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33606.  Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) reflects differences between the right and left sides of a normally bilaterally symmetric trait and has been used as an indicator of developmental stability as influenced by environmental contaminants.  We measured FA by counting the right and left pectoral fin rays of the mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) collected from six different sites in the Tampa Bay vicinity: three presumably clean sites and three presumably polluted sites.   We also collected data on basic water quality parameters from these sites.  FA differed significantly between the clean and polluted sites, indicating that FA in mosquitofish is an effective bioindicator of water quality.