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Histological Effects of Light Crude Oil on Sciaenops ocellatus Under Experimental Conditions

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Abstract

The health status of Sciaenops ocellatus was studied by qualitative and quantitative histopathological analysis through histological damage prevalence and degree of tissue change (DTC) in response to 96 h and 9 days of exposure to 0.1, 0.8, and 8 g/L of light crude oil in seawater. The histology of the liver, spleen, kidney, and gills of the fish were analyzed and compared between treatments. Our results showed that the exposed fish developed lesions associated with degenerative and necrotic changes. The highest frequency of damage and DTC scores were observed in the liver and kidney from 96 h to 9-days post-exposure. Generalized additive models of location, scale, and shape, showed that the DTC was strongly associated with crude oil compounds such as napthalene, Cd, Ni, Pb, and bile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites. Our findings suggest that exposure to crude oil affects fish health, producing irreversible histological damage.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank staff from the aquatic pathology lab at CINVESTAV-Mérida for field and lab help, and from the ecotoxicology, geochemistry and immunology labs for help with the maintenance of fish and contaminant databases. Dr. Ulises N. García Cruz helped in the calculation of crude oil concentrations, logistics, and experimental design. The Mexican government and Yucatan State, Mexico and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) provided a PhD student Grant (No. 250380) to D.C. This research was financially supported by the Mexican Ministry of Energy through the Hydrocarbon Foundation and CONACyT (Project 201441). This is a contribution from the Gulf of Mexico Research Consortium (CIGoM). We acknowledge PEMEX for providing the light-crude oil, and the specific request to the Hydrocarbon Foundation to address the environmental effects of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Recursos del Mar, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN (CINVESTAV-IPN, Unidad Mérida), Antigua carretera a Progreso Km 6, Cordemex, C.P 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    E. Danilú Couoh-Puga, Víctor M. Vidal-Martínez, Víctor Ceja-Moreno, Carlos Puch-Hau, Abril Rodríguez-González, Ana L. May-Tec & M. Leopoldina Aguirre-Macedo

  2. Unidad de Química Sisal, Facultad de Química, UNAM, Puerto de Abrigo S/N, 97356, Sisal, Yucatán, Mexico

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  1. E. Danilú Couoh-Puga
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Couoh-Puga, E.D., Vidal-Martínez, V.M., Ceja-Moreno, V. et al. Histological Effects of Light Crude Oil on Sciaenops ocellatus Under Experimental Conditions. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 108, 71–77 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03172-0

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