Selected Hematological Indices of Freshwater Fish from Studen Kladenetsh Reservoir

D. ARNAUDOVA1, A. ARNAUDOV2 and E. TOMOVA2
1 University of Plovdiv “P. Hilendarski”, Branch “L. Karavelov”, BG-6600 Kardzhali, Bulgaria
2 University of Plovdiv “P. Hilendarski”, Faculty of Biology, BG - 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Abstract

ARNAUDOVA, D., A. ARNAUDOV and E. TOMOVA, 2008. Selected hematological indices of freshwater fish from Studen Kladenetsh Reservoir. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 14: 244-250

Investigations on the toxic effect of heavy metals upon fish is accompanied by the investigation of changes in some hematological and biochemical blood indices. However, very few publications can be found regarding the combined impact of metals and this effect has been studied particularly by means of ex situ analysis and in lesser amount using freshwater basins analysis. The present article provides information for some red blood cell indices of three freshwater fish - bleak (Alburnus alburnus L.), rudd (Scardinus erythrophtalmus L.) and perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) from the Studen Kladentsh Reservoir (area of the Arda River). The toxic substances in Studen Kladenetsh Reservoir showed that their concentration in the water of the exceeds acceptable levels. The analysis of all three freshwater fishes inhabiting the Studen Kladenetsh Reservoir registered anaemic changes in the blood regardless of the season. However, each species developed a different type of anaemia - macrocytic hyperchromic type in the bleak, hypochromic type in the rudd and normochromic anaemia, which developed into mycrocytic normochromic anaemia in winter in the perch.The morphological examination of the erythrocytes of all three freshwater fishes demonstrated a wide range of pathological deviations as well as a large number of „amitotic” erythrocytes in peripheral blood of rudd and persh. These changes also show differences between the species.

Key words: freshwater fish, hematology, anemia, erythrocyte morphology

Abbreviations: MCV - mean corpuscular volume, MCH - mean corpuscular hemoglobin, MCHC - mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, fL - femolitre, pg/cell - picograms per cell

See the article as a PDF