Hundreds of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals have now been detected in aquatic ecosystems and wildlife tissues around the world.
One widespread pharmaceutical pollutant of growing environmental concern is the antidepressant fluoxetine (marketed as Prozac), which can affect behavioural and physiological processes in animals. Despite this, effects of fluoxetine on wildlife behaviour have seldom been investigated across multiple fitness-related contexts, especially at environmentally realistic concentrations.
New research, led by PhD candidate Jake Martin, has uncovered that exposure to fluoxetine at environmentally realistic concentrations alters reproductive behaviour in male fish. Specifically, exposed male eastern mosquitofish spent a greater amount of time following, and were more likely to copulate with, female fish. What is more, no significant effect of exposure was seen when male fish were tested for activity and exploratory behaviour in a novel environment, indicating that behavioural effects of fluoxetine exposure may be context-specific.
In combination, these results underscore how pharmaceutical pollution at field-detected concentrations can induce important shifts in wildlife behaviour, with potential ecological and evolutionary implications for exposed populations.
To find out more about this research, click here.
