Researchers from Australia and Sarawak have been investigating the
life history of the shad (Tenualosa toli), a commercially important
fish in Malaysia (Environmental Biology of Fishes 46, p225). When they
viewed the sex organs of the fish under a microscope they got a real
surprise—the organs contained both developing eggs and degenerating sperm
tissue. This is the first example of transsexual fish in the Clupeidae,
a large family of fish which includes the anchovy and pilchard.
research: in the field : Sex change
By Ian Anderson
7 December 1996
