Histopathological assessment of liver and gonad pathology in continental slope fish from the northeast Atlantic Ocean

Type Article
Date 2015-05
Language English
Author(s) Feist S. W.1, Stentiford G. D.1, Kent Maxxie2, 3, Ribeiro Santos Ana4, Lorance PascalORCID5
Affiliation(s) 1 : Ctr Environm Fisheries & Aquaculture Sci, Weymouth Lab, Weymouth DT4 8UB, Dorset, England.
2 : Oregon State Univ, Dept Microbiol, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA.
3 : Oregon State Univ, Dept Biomed Sci, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA.
4 : Ctr Environm Fisheries & Aquaculture Sci, Lowestoft Lab, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, Suffolk, England.
5 : IFREMER, F-44311 Nantes 03, France.
Source Marine Environmental Research (0141-1136) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2015-05 , Vol. 106 , P. 42-50
DOI 10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.02.004
WOS© Times Cited 46
Keyword(s) Histopathology, Disease, Bay of Biscay, Neoplasia, Ovotestis, Deep-sea fish
Abstract The deep-sea environment is a sink for a wide variety of contaminants including heavy metals and organic compounds of anthropogenic origin. Life history traits of many deep-water fish species including longevity and high trophic position may predispose them to contaminant exposure and subsequent induction of pathological changes, including tumour formation. The lack of evidence for this hypothesis prompted this investigation in order to provide data on the presence of pathological changes in the liver and gonads of several deep-water fish species. Fish were obtained from the north east region of the Bay of Biscay (north east Atlantic Ocean) by trawling at depths between 700 to 1400m. Liver and gonad samples were collected on board ship and fixed for histological processing and subsequent examination by light microscopy. Hepatocellular and nuclear pleomorphism and individual cases of ovotestis and foci of cellular alteration (FCA) were detected in black scabbard fish (Aphanopus carbo). Six cases of FCA were observed in orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) (n=50) together with a single case of hepatocellular adenoma. A wide variety of inflammatory and degenerative lesions were found in all species examined. Deep-water fish display a range of pathologies similar to those seen in shelf-sea species used for international monitoring programmes including biological effects of contaminants. This study has confirmed the utility of health screening in deep-water fish for detecting evidence of prior exposure to contaminants and has also gained evidence of pathology potentially associated with exposure to algal toxins.
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