Nonlethal laparoscopic detection of intersex (testicular oocytes) in largemouthbass (Micropterus salmoides) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)

Intersex in wild fish populations has received considerable attention in the scientific literature and public media. Conventional detection of testicular oocytes (TO), the presence of immature oocytes within testis of male fish, employs transverse sectioning of excised testis and is lethal. This present study used a non-lethal laparoscopic technique to collect biopsies of testis from black bass, entering the body cavity via the genital pore. Detection of TO was compared between biopsy and conventional methods using 79 smallmouth bass (SMB) Micropterus dolomieu from 8 sites and 68 largemouth bass (LMB) M. salmoides from 4 sites. Both methods performed similarly at sites where TO severity was moderate or high (6 of 8 SMB sites) while transverse sectioning resulted in superior TO detection at sites where severity was low (2 of 8 SMB sites and all 4 LMB sites). In SMB, TO prevalence by transverse and biopsy methods was strongly correlated across sites (r2 = 0.81) and severity reported by enumeration of TO was moderately correlated across sites (r2 = 0.59). Survival of a subset of LMB (n = 20) to 28-d after laparoscopic surgery was 90%. This research indicates that laparoscopy may be useful for monitoring the prevalence and severity of TO in Micropterus species, particularly when lethal sampling is precluded.