Serum androgens during the annual reproductive cycle of the male mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus.

A technique for the simultaneous detection of serum concentrations of testosterone (T), 17 beta-hydroxy-4-androstene-3,11-dione (11-KT), and 11 beta, 17 beta-dihydroxy-4-androsten-3-one (11 beta-HT) was established using a combination of high performance liquid chromatography separation and radioimmunoassay. In the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, serum concentrations of T, 11-KT, and 11 beta-HT varied from 11.3, 10.1, and 27.9 ng/ml, respectively, during the breeding season to 0.2, 0.3, and 0.9 ng/ml, respectively, during the nonbreeding season. The changes in serum androgen levels, determined weekly, did not coincide with changes in the gonosomatic index or measurement of sperm/gram testes. Increases in serum androgen levels did coincide with the rise in sperm index, but the decreases in serum concentrations of androgens preceded the fall in sperm index by more than a month. A model is proposed to explain the reproductive cycle of male mummichogs.