Wednesday January 13, 2009 Two-headed fish spark fears of
chemical contamination. Toxic chemical contamination was the
likely cause of fatal fish mutations in northern Australia in
which thousands of bass larvae spawned with two heads, an expert
said Wednesday. Matt Landos, an aquatic animal specialist and
member of the Australian College of Veterinarian Scientists,
said the mutant larvae at a Noosa River fish farm survived just
48 hours and were dying en masse. "When we used the water on-
site or have taken bass from the Noosa River those fish appear
to have been contaminated and they give rise to deformed or
convulsing larvae," he told AFP. "I have been working in
aquaculture for 10 years and this is the first time I have ever
seen anything like it." Tests had excluded the presence of a
virus or bacteria, leading Landos to suspect that pesticides
from a neighbouring macadamia nut farm were to blame. "It leaves
us sitting with toxic chemical contamination as a likely cause,"
he said. "I believe that it's some