Datos ambientales y biomarcadores

Marine Environmental Research 69 (2010) 53–62

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Marine Environmental Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marenvrev

Combined use of environmental data and biomarkers in fish (Liza aurata) inhabiting a eutrophic and metal-contaminated coastal system – Gills reflect environmental contamination
Patrícia Pereira a,b,*, Hilda de Pablo a,Carlos Vale a, Mário Pacheco b
a b

National Institute of Biological Resources – IPIMAR, Av. Brasília, 1449-006 Lisbon, Portugal CESAM and Biology Department, Aveiro University, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

a r t i c l e

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a b s t r a c t
An investigative biomonitoring study was carried out in a eutrophic coastal system with a moderate contamination by metals (Óbidos lagoon,Portugal), combining the evaluation of exposure concentrations with metals accumulation and oxidative stress responses in gills of the golden grey mullet (Liza aurata). Two contrasting seasons (winter and summer) were considered at three sites: Barrosa (BB) and BomSucesso (BS) branches; Middle lagoon (ML). Data on the water column pointed to a higher metals and nutrients availability at BB that wasreflected in the higher metal concentrations in gills, particularly in winter. Similarly, oxidative stress responses demonstrated a pro-oxidant challenge at BB (winter and summer), which was corroborated by an integrated biomarker response index (IBR). Metal concentrations in gills were higher in summer than winter, reflecting the increased environmental concentrations in combination with elevatedmetabolic rates. Catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), total glutathione (GSHt) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) increases observed in winter at BB were related with metal accumulation, while summer enhancement of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), GST and GSHt was associated with other stressors. Inter-site differences on the basis of IBR were more accentuated in winter.Gills can be considered as an important route of entry for contaminants and were demonstrated to reflect water contamination and are therefore useful in the context of environmental assessment. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 14 May 2009 Received in revised form 29 July 2009 Accepted 3 August 2009

Keywords: Oxidative stress Fish Metals Coastal lagoon Temporalvariability

1. Introduction The suitability of fish gills for environmental biomonitoring was recommended by several recent works (Fernandes et al., 2008; Dautremepuits et al., 2009; Oliveira et al., 2009). In fact, gills have a wide surface area that is continuously in contact with the external medium and are thus the main uptake route of contaminants from aqueous phase (Playle, 1998). On theother hand, fish gills are able to accumulate chemicals that were taken up by other exposure routes, due to their position between the venous and arterial circulation, thus receiving nearly all of the cardiac output (Levine and Oris, 1999). Moreover, gills play a key role in fish physiology, such as gaseous exchange, osmotic and ionic regulation, acid–base balance and nitrogenous waste (Ahmad et al.,2008). It is documented that fish gills respond earlier than kidney and liver under field contamination exposure (Ahmad et al., 2004; Santos

* Corresponding author. Address: CESAM and Biology Department, Aveiro University, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Tel.: +351 21 3027147; fax: +351 21 3015948. E-mail address: patbio@ipimar.pt (P. Pereira). 0141-1136/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. Allrights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2009.08.003

et al., 2004). Its applicability is also enhanced by the fact that gills’ epithelium suffers an increased cell division to counteract its exfoliation and erosion and by this feature gills usually reflect current exposures (Mieiro et al., 2009). This seems to be particularly relevant when fish, with their non-sessile behaviour, are used as...