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Use of blood parameters in fish to assess acidic stress and chloride pollution in French running waters

Abstract:

The study investigated whether plasmatic parameters in fish such as Cl- content could serve as physiological indicators to evaluate water quality. The variations of plasma Cl- content in two fish species caught in a wide range of rivers representative of the hydrographic system of Lorraine (N-E France) were investigated. First, we studied autochthonous populations of chub (Leuciscus cephalus) which is a widespread species in the rivers of Lorraine. Organisms living in highly mineralised rivers (>1500 μS cm-1) - either naturally or due to salt mine contamination showed plasma Cl- content significantly greater than organisms living in river with a lower mineralisation. Second, we investigated plasma Cl- content of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) in poorly mineralised streams (<80 μS cm-1) with different degrees of acidification, both on autochthonous and transferred organisms. While indigenous trout maintained their Cl- content even in the acidic streams, transferred trout exhibited an important decrease of Cl- content after 48 h of exposure under acidic conditions. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.