Mirjana LENHARDT, Ivan JARIC, Predrag CAKIC, Gorcin CVIJANOVIC, Zoran GACIC

Seasonal changes in condition, hepatosomatic index and parasitism in sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus L.)

Measurements of biomarker responses in fish from contaminated sites could provide valuable data for environmental risk assessment. Biomarkers are sensitive to both environmental pollution and confounding factors that are not related to pollution (e.g., season, nutritional status, and population density). Unfortunately, data about the latter group are scarce. Therefore, juvenile sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus L.) specimens were collected on a monthly basis from the Danube River from September 2002 through August 2003 to determine if seasonal changes exist in condition, hepatosomatic index, and parasitism. Fulton condition factor (FCF range: 0.27 - 0.79), hepatosomatic index (HSI range: 1.14 - 6.67) and Skrjabinopsolus semiarmatus parasite prevalence (range: 37.9 - 85.7 %), intensity (range: 1 - 337 parasites per fish) and the mean intensity (range 9.6 - 89.2) in sterlet showed significant seasonal variations. This study pointed out that biomarker sampling on different locations has to be performed within the short time frame in order to avoid differences generated by confounding factors. Better understanding of the life cycle of S. semiarmatus and sensitivity of different phases to pollution is needed.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Danube River, Fulton condition factor, hepatosomatic index, Skrjabinopsolus semiarmatus prevalence and intensity

Seasonal changes in condition, hepatosomatic index and parasitism in sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus L.)

Keywords:

Danube River, Fulton condition factor, hepatosomatic index, Skrjabinopsolus semiarmatus prevalence and intensity,

PDF

___

van der Oost, R., Beyer, J., Vermeulen, N.P.E.: Fish bioaccumulation and biomarkers in environmental risk assessment: a review. Environ. Toxicol. Phar., 2003; 13: 57-149. 2. De Kruijf, H.A.M.: Extrapolation through hierarchical levels. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. C, 1991; 100: 291-299. 3. Khan, R.A.: Length-mass relationship, histopathology, and parasitism in winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus) living near a PCB-contaminated naval facility in Newfoundland. Can. J. Zool., 1999; 77: 381-388. 4.
Oliva-Paterna, F.J., Vila-Gispert, A., Torralva, M.: Condition of
Barbus sclateri from semi-arid aquatic systems: effects of habitat
quality disturbances. J. Fish Biol., 2003; 63: 699-709. 5.
Craig, J.M., Thomas, M.V., Nichols, S.J.: Length-weight
relationship and a relative condition factor equation for lake
sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) from the St Clair River system
Lenhardt, M.: Seasonal changes in some blood chemistry parameters and in relative liver and gonad weights of pike (Esox lucius L.) from the River Danube. J. Fish Biol., 1992; 40: 709- 718.
Marcogliese, D.J.: Parasites of the superorganism: are they indicators of ecosystem health? Int. J. Parasitol., 2005; 35: 705
Mackenzie, K.: Parasites as pollution indicators in marine ecosystems: a proposed early warning system. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 1999; 38: 955-959.
Berge, D., Dahl-Hansen, G.: Management of Freshwater Fisheries on Bordering Rivers - EU - regulations in the field of water and fish management. Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Report 24274, 2005.
Lenhardt, M., Cakić, P., Kolarević, J.: Influence of the HEPS Djerdap I and Djerdap II dam construction on catch of economically important fish species in the Danube River. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol., 2004; 4: 499-502.
Kolarević, J., Lenhardt, M., Cakić, P., Jarić, I.: Population study of the Danube sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus L.). In: Otterstad, O., Ed. Releasing development potentials at the Eastern Adriatic. NTNU, 2004; (http://www.easternadriatic.com).
Lenhardt, M., Cakić, P., Kolarević, J., Micković, B., Nikcević, M.: Changes in sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus L.) catch and length frequency distribution in the Serbian part of the Danube River during the twentieth century. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol., 2004; 4: 193-197.
Lenhardt, M., Kolarević, J., Jarić, I., Cvijanović, G., Poleksić, V., Micković, B., Gacić, Z., Cakić, P., Nikcević, M.: Assessment concepts for river ecosystems characterization based on sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus L.) population research. Proc. 5thInt. Symp. Ecohydraulics, IAHR, Madrid. 2004; 153-156.
Bush, A.O., Lafferty, K.D., Lotz, J.M., Shostak, A.W.: Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. J. Parasitol., 1997; 83: 575-583.
Stevenson, J.T., Secor, D.H.: Age determination and growth of Hudson River Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus. Fish. Bull., 1999; 97: 153-166.
Rice, W.R.: Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution, 1989; 43: 223-225.
Peterson, D., Vecsei, P., Hochleithner, M.: Threatened fishes of the world: Acipenser ruthenus Linnaeus, 1758 (Acipenseridae). Environ. Biol. Fish., 2006; Published online, DOI: 10.1007/s10641-006-6659-1.
Choudhury, A., Bruch, R., Dick, T.A.: Helminths and food habits of lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens from the Lake Winnebago System, Wisconsin. Am. Midl. Nat., 1996; 135: 274- 282.
Beamish, F.W.H., Jebbink, J.A., Rossiter, A., Noakes, D.L.G.: Growth strategy of juvenile lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in a northern river. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 1996; 53: 481-489.
Lapkina, L.N., Streljnikova, A.P., Chuiko, G.M., Lenhardt, M., Kolarević, J.: Leeches as the objects of fish feeding. Int. Conf. “Structural - Functional Characteristics of the Biosystem of the North”, Petrozavodsk State University, Russia. 2005; 214-217.
Hung, S.S.O., Groff, J.M., Lutes, P.B., Fynn-Aikins, F.K.: Hepatic and intestinal histology of juvenile white sturgeon fed different carbohydrates. Aquaculture, 1990; 87: 349-360.
Bauer, O.N., Pugachev, O.N., Voronin, V.N.: Study of parasites and diseases of sturgeons in Russia: a review. J. Appl. Ichthyol., 2002; 18: 420-429.
Sattari, M., Mokhayer, B.: Occurrence and intensity of some parasites in five sturgeon species (Chondrostei: Acipenseridae) southwest of Caspian Sea. Curr. Sci. India, 2005; 89: 259-263.
Rajabpour, M., Malek, M., MacKenzie, K., Aghlmandi, F.: Helminth parasites of stellate sturgeon Acipenser stellatus Pallas, 1771 and Persian sturgeon Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897 (Pisces: Acipenseridae) from the South-East Caspian Sea. Parasitol. Res., 2008; 102: 1089-1091.
Sures, B.: Environmental parasitology: relevancy of parasites in monitoring environmental pollution. Trends Parasitol., 2004; 20: 170-177.
Schludermann, C., Konecny, R., Laimgruber, S., Lewis, J.W., Schiemer, F., Chovanec, A., Sures, B.: Fish macroparasites as indicators of heavy metal pollution in river sites in Austria. Parasitology, 2003; 126: 61-69.