Med Molluscs in Sex-Change Threat

Ansa.it

Sea pollution makes gender- bending snails

Rome – The murex, one of Sicily’s best-loved shell-fish, is facing extinction because of widespread sex changes caused by compounds in paints protecting the hulls of boats, environmentalists warn.

The alarm was launched by Italy’s premier marine research institute, the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA, formerly known as ICRAM), after it carried out tests in Sicilian coastal waters and compared them with uncontaminated waters farther out.