This U.S.-Czechoslovakia research project between Dr. William L. Shelton of the University of Oklahoma and Dr. Otomar Linhart of the Fisheries Research Institute, Vodnany, Czechoslovakia, will determine how gonadal differentiation of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and the European tench (Tinca tinca) is affected by growth rate, controlled by density dependency and temperature. The basic relationship determined in these studies will be applied to protocol optimization of androgen-induced sex reversal. Functionality of the phenotypic sex is emphasized as a component of a breeding program to produce all- female progeny for aquaculture. U.S. and Czechoslovakian scientists will collaborate on this research, and conduct the investigation on carp and tench in their own countries. They will stock progeny of each species at various densities in different habitats (ponds, tanks, net enclosures) during year one, and examine the time/size-related chronology of gonadal differentiation histologically. In year two, they will develop a temperature/size-time relationship of gonadal differentiation. During the third year, they will integrate the density- temperature mediated gonadal differentiation with efficacy testing of functional sex reversal with methyltestosterone. This investigation merges the dichotomy of a basic question and a pragmatic problem. This project in aquaculture and ecosystem dynamics fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling leading experts in the United States and Eastern Europe to combine complementary talents and pool resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence.
