Development of apical pits in chloride cells of the gills of Pimephales promelas after chronic exposure to acid water

Author(s):  
Richard L. Leino ◽  
Jon G. Anderson ◽  
J. Howard McCormick

Groups of 12 fathead minnows were exposed for 129 days to Lake Superior water acidified (pH 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 or 6.5) with reagent grade H2SO4 by means of a multichannel toxicant system for flow-through bioassays. Untreated water (pH 7.5) had the following properties: hardness 45.3 ± 0.3 (95% confidence interval) mg/1 as CaCO3; alkalinity 42.6 ± 0.2 mg/1; Cl- 0.03 meq/1; Na+ 0.05 meq/1; K+ 0.01 meq/1; Ca2+ 0.68 meq/1; Mg2+ 0.26 meq/1; dissolved O2 5.8 ± 0.3 mg/1; free CO2 3.2 ± 0.4 mg/1; T= 24.3 ± 0.1°C. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd gills were subsequently processed for LM (methacrylate), TEM and SEM respectively.Three changes involving chloride cells were correlated with increasing acidity: 1) the appearance of apical pits (figs. 2,5 as compared to figs. 1, 3,4) in chloride cells (about 22% of the chloride cells had pits at pH 5.0); 2) increases in their numbers and 3) increases in the % of these cells in the epithelium of the secondary lamellae.

1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1811-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger O. Hermanutz ◽  
Leonard H. Mueller ◽  
Kenneth D. Kempfert

The toxic effects of captan on survival, growth, and reproduction of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and on survival of bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were determined in a flow-through system. In a 45-week exposure of fathead minnows, survival and growth were adversely affected at 39.5 μg/liter. Adverse effects on spawning were suspected but not statistically demonstrated at 39.5 and 16.5 μg/liter. The maximum acceptable toxicant concentration (MATC), based on survival and growth, lies between 39.5 and 16.5 μg/liter. The lethal threshold concentration (LTC) derived from acute exposures was 64 μg/liter, resulting in an application factor (MATC/LTC) between 0.26 and 0.62. LTC values for the bluegill and brook trout were 72 and 29 μg/liter, respectively. The estimated MATC is between 44.6 and 18.7 μg/liter for the bluegill and between 18.0 and 7.5 μg/liter for the brook trout.The half-life of captan in Lake Superior water with a pH of 7.6 is about 7 hr at 12 C and about 1 hr at 25 C. Breakdown products from an initial 550 μg/liter of captan were not lethal to 3-month-old fathead minnows.


1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1147-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Smith ◽  
J. L. Sykora ◽  
M. A. Shapiro

The long-term effect of lime neutralized suspended iron on fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) survival, growth, and reproduction was assessed in a flow-through environment with a modified proportional diluter. Results of 12 months of testing reveal lower survival and declining growth of fathead minnows with an increase in lime neutralized suspended iron concentration. Hatchability and growth of fathead minnows were appreciably reduced in the lowest insoluble iron concentration tested, 1.5 mg Fe/liter. Reduced hatchability was attributed to the higher percentage of smaller particles in low lime neutralized iron concentrations. A comparison of data on survival, growth, and hatchability indicates that the safe level of suspended iron for fathead minnows presumably lies between the control and 1.5 mg Fe/liter.


1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 593-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Mehrle ◽  
Foster L. Mayer Jr.

Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to toxaphene (55–1230 ng/liter) in a flow-through diluter system for 150 days. Growth was not affected by toxaphene for up to 90 days of exposure, but within 150 days it was significantly reduced at all concentrations. Collagen content of the backbone was decreased (P < 0.05), amino acid composition was changed, and calcium concentration was increased. Results from this study suggest that toxaphene altered the development and quality of the backbone, and induced biochemical manifestations of the "broken-back" syndrome. Radiographic analyses of the fish support our hypothesis that toxaphene induced a weakened, fragile backbone.


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang A. Jansen ◽  
John H. Gee

Swimbladder function, buoyancy-related behavior, and swimming performance were examined in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) following chronic (>4 d) exposure to acid-treated water (pH 5.3). When denied surface access in still water, treated fish, unlike controls (pH 7.7), failed to increase buoyancy and standard volume over "access to air" levels and had significantly higher proportions of swimbladder CO2 and O2. In current, treated fish reduced buoyancy over 48 h to a lesser extent than controls and were severely limited in their ability to increase internal pressure of swimbladder gases. pH significantly affected the maintenance of a minimum buoyancy over 32 d. Upon transfer from current to still water without access to air, the rate of buoyancy adjustment over 48 h was significantly slower in treated fish. With surface access, fish of both groups filled swimbladders within 6–12 h following removal from current; however, treated fish displayed significantly lower proportions of swimbladder CO2 and O2 at 12 and 24 h. Both groups of fish compensated hydrodynamically for insufficient static lift with higher frequencies of pectoral fin beats, treated fish having generally higher frequencies. Swimming performance was unaffected by water pH, but treated fish lost more weight than controls. We propose that impaired swimbladder function contributes to the elimination of fathead minnows from acidified environments.


1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 997-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. DeFoe ◽  
G. D. Veith ◽  
R. W. Carlson

Fathead minnows were exposed to Aroclor® 1248 and 1260 in flow-through bioassays to determine the acute (30-d) and chronic (240-d life cycle) effects on the larvae and adults, as well as the bioconcentration of the mixtures of PCBs in the fish. Newly hatched larvae (< 8 h old) were the most sensitive; the calculated 30-d LC50 was 4.7 μg/L for Aroclor 1248 and 3.3 μg/L for Aroclor 1260. Reproduction in fathead minnows occurred at concentrations as high as 3 μg/L for Aroclor 1248 and 2.1 μg/L for Aroclor 1260, concentrations that significantly affected larval survival. The 20% reduction in the standing crop in the second-generation fish at concentrations as low as 0.4 μg/L was due to the death of the larvae soon after hatching. The bioconcentration factor for PCBs was independent of the PCB concentration in the water; in adult females at 25 °C it was ~ 1.2 × 105 for Aroclor 1248 and 2.7 × 105 for Aroclor 1260. Females accumulated about twice as much PCBs as the males because of the greater amount of lipid in the female. Exposed fish placed in untreated Lake Superior water eliminated < 18% of the body burden after 60 d. Key words: PCBs, bioassay, bioconcentration, chronic toxicity, embryo-larval, depuration


1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1040-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilman D. Veith ◽  
David L. DeFoe ◽  
Barbara V. Bergstedt

A method of estimating the bioconcentration factor of organic chemicals in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) is described. Water at 25 °C was intermittently dosed with the chemical at a nontoxic concentration in a flow-through aquarium. Thirty minnows are placed in the aquarium, and composite samples of five fish are removed for analysis after 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 d of exposure. The bioconcentration process is summarized by using the first-order uptake model, and the steady-state bioconcentration factor is calculated from the 32-d exposure. A structure-activity correlation between the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and the n-octanol/water partition coefficient (P) of individual chemicals is summarized by the equation log BCF = 0.85 log P − 0.70, which permits the estimation of the bioconcentration factor of chemicals to within 60% before laboratory testing. The facilities and resources for testing need be used only for those chemicals that are likely to result in substantial bioconcentration in organisms. The bioconcentration factors derived from tests of mixtures of chemicals are shown to be the same as those derived from tests with the chemicals individually. Key words: bioconcentration factor, bioaccumulation, structure-activity, bioassay


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Leino ◽  
J. H. McCormick ◽  
K. M. Jensen

Thirty-day-old fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, were reared at different pH values in softened Lake Superior water enriched with aluminum: pH 7.5–35 μg Al/L, pH 5.5–30 μg Al/L, pH 5.2–35 and 60 μg Al/L, including a background level of 15 μg Al/L, and at pH 7.5, 6.0, 5.5, and 5.2 at background Al levels. Spawning was greatly reduced at pH 6.0, pH 5.5–30 μg Al/L, and pH 5.5 and failed at pH 5.2 with or without added Al. The adult brood stock exhibited abnormalities at low pH, which could have contributed to poor spawning success or energy utilization: (i) thickened respiratory epithelium in the gills, (ii) hyperplasia of primary lamellar epithelium in the gills, (iii) increased number of gill chloride cells, (iv) reduced gill perfusion, (v) immature ovaries and oocyte atresia, (vi) immature and pathologic testes, (vii) abnormal distal tubules and collecting ducts in the kidneys, and (viii) reduced blood osmolality at pH 5.5 and 5.2 when no Al was added. Hatching success and larval survival were reduced when spawning occurred at or below pH 6.0; these larvae often had retarded swim bladder development and yolk absorption and some stages had abnormal gills, kidneys, and liver glycogen reserves. This study further supports the relationship between acidification, histological changes, ionoregulatory disturbances, altered energy metabolism, and recruitment failure.


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