A gender-bending parasite has been discovered by Hampshire scientists which is believed to be responsible for turning male shrimps and other crustaceans into females.

Scientists believe the discovery could be a breakthrough for commercial mussel and oyster bed operations which suffer major consequences from the sex-change problem.

Microbiologists at the University of Portsmouth found that the new species of paramyxean is responsible for the changes, which were previously put down to a parasite known as microsporidians. But the research, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, has shown that the microsporidians simply ''hitch-hike'' on the newly found parasite which causes the sexual dysfunction in various types of crustaceans.