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Yellow eel (Anguilla anguilla) development in NW Portuguese estuaries with different contamination levels

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Abstract

The aims of the present study were to compare the health status of yellow eels (Anguilla anguilla) developing in three estuaries of the NW Portuguese coast with different levels of pollution and their physiological responses to combined effects of environmental variation and pollution. For this, a field study was performed using a multi-parameter approach, including eels condition indexes and biomarkers, water quality variables and other environmental factors. Sixteen biological parameters were assessed, namely: hepatosomatic index (LSI), Fulton’s condition index (K), lipid peroxidation (LPO), total glutathione (TG), reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidised glutathione (GSSG), GSH/GSSG, and the activity of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sodium-potassium ATPase (Na+/K+-ATPase), ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione S-transferases (GST), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR). Ten environmental factors were also measured in water: temperature, salinity, pH, phosphates, nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, silica, phenol and hardness. Globally, the biomarkers indicate exposure and toxic effects of pollutants on eels living in contaminated estuaries. The relationships between biological and environmental variables were assessed through redundancy analysis. K and LSI indexes, AChE and Na+/K+-ATPase, total glutathione levels and the antioxidant enzymes CAT, GR, and SOD where the factors most discriminating reference (Minho River estuary) from contaminated estuaries (Lima and Douro Rivers estuaries). Moreover, the most striking outcomes of pollutants exposure on biological responses were observed during winter, probably due to a joint effect of cold weather and pollution stress. Altogether, the results indicate that the development of eels in the polluted estuaries of Lima and Douro rivers is interfering with physiological functions determinant for their survival and performance. This may increase the mortality rates during the continental life-phase of the species and decrease the percentage of animals able to successfully complete their oceanic migration and, thus, reduce the contribution of each generation to the next one.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Drs. C. Antunes, A. Oliveira and I. Cunha for their help during the capture of eels, and Dr. J. Wilson for the technical support provided on the Na+/K+-ATPase determination. Acknowledgments are also due to M. Faria, and A. Alves for technical assistance in some parts of the work. This study was funded by “Fundação para a Cíência e a Tecnologia” of Portugal (FCT), and by EU FEDER funds, through the project EELEANORA (POCTI/BSE/47918/2002) and a Post-Doc grant to C. Gravato (POCTI/BPD/21070/2004).

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  1. CIMAR-LA/CIIMAR—Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal

    Laura Guimarães, Carlos Gravato, Joana Santos & Lúcia Guilhermino

  2. ICBAS—Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Departamento de Estudos de Populações, Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia, Universidade do Porto, Largo Professor Abel Salazar 2, 4099-003, Porto, Portugal

    Luís S. Monteiro & Lúcia Guilhermino

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  1. Laura Guimarães
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Correspondence to Laura Guimarães.

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Guimarães, L., Gravato, C., Santos, J. et al. Yellow eel (Anguilla anguilla) development in NW Portuguese estuaries with different contamination levels. Ecotoxicology 18, 385–402 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-008-0294-x

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