BPA makes fish take a shine to each other

Bisphenol A (BPA) could trigger interbreeding in fish, according to research carried out in the US at the University of Minnesota.

Blacktail shiners courted red shiners after BPA exposure.

Jessica Ward exposed blacktail shiners and red shiners to BPA for 14 days and then compared their courtship behaviour to fish that hadn’t ingested the chemical. Apparently, the BPA fish indiscriminately courted members of the other species raising fears of interbreeding.

"Hybridisation is one of the most common and widespread causes of species loss, especially in fish," said Ward.

Her research was published in Evolutionary Applications, DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4571.2012.00283.x