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Histopathology investigation on the Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis) populations captured from the rivers impacted by mining activities

Jordanova, Maja; Rebok, Katerina; Dragun, Zrinka; Ivanova, Lozenka; Kostov, Vasil; Valić, Damir; Krasnići, Nesrete; Filipović Marijić, Vlatka; Kapetanović, Damir (2016) Histopathology investigation on the Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis) populations captured from the rivers impacted by mining activities. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 129 . pp. 35-42. ISSN 0147-6513

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Abstract

Many natural freshwater ecosystems, especially in the north eastern Macedonia, are polluted with heavy metals, which are released by active mines. Long-term exposure to high levels of dissolved metals might result in increased metal bioaccumulation in organs of aquatic organisms, and consequently might cause various sub-toxic and toxic effects. The aim of this study was to assess the health of Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis) inhabiting mining impacted rivers Zletovska and Kriva, in comparison with chub from the reference Bregalnica River. It was done by use of indicators of tissue damage (histopathology of liver and gonads) and general indicators of exposure to environmental stressors (condition factor, organo- somatic indices and external/internal macroscopic lesions). Histological assessment of gonads revealed good reproductive health in all three rivers, indicating high tolerance of gonads to contaminant exposure. Contrary, several external/internal lesions were more pronounced in chub from severely metal contaminated Zletovska River. Prevalence of hepatic lesions was also higher in mining impacted rivers (in Kriva, 70% ; in Zletovska, 59%) compared to Bregalnica River (38%). The spectrum of histological lesions observed in chub liver varied from non-specific minor degenerative conditions, such as lymphocyte infiltration, fibrosis, parasites, granulomas and lipidosis, to extensive and/or more severe changes such as bile duct proliferation, necrosis, megalocytosis, light-dark hepatocytes and hepatocytes regeneration. The results of histopathological investigation for all three rivers showed clear signs of water contamination, especially prominent in mining influenced rivers. More research efforts should be devoted to study of environmental conditions and metal contamination in the mining impacted rivers worldwide, especially of their effects on health of local ichtyofauna.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: The authors are thankful to all those having contributed to the study. We are especially thankful to Professor Zlatko Levkov for the use of equipment, the light microscope and digital camera for making of microphotographs. This study has been financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia (Projects no. 098-0982934-2721 and 098-0982934-2752) and particularly by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia (Project no. 16-11935/1).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Vardar chub; histopathology; mining; monitoring; liver; gonads; metal contamination
Subjects: NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology
NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology > Ecology
BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE > Veterinary Medicine
Divisions: Division for Marine and Enviromental Research
Projects:
Project titleProject leaderProject codeProject type
Croatian-Macedonian bilateral collaboration "The assessment of metal availability and effects on feral fish in the rivers under the impact of mining activities"Zrinka DragunUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Stanične promjene u vodnih organizama pobuđene metalima-Marijana Erk098-0982934-2721MZOS
Patologija organizama iz voda u odnosu na zagađivala i akvakulturu-Damir Kapetanović098-0982934-2752MZOS
Depositing User: Zrinka Dragun
Date Deposited: 04 Dec 2019 13:54
URI: http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/5219
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2016.03.006

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