title: Health status of Largescale Sucker (Catostomus macrocheilus) collected along an organic contaminant gradient in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA.
abstract: The health of Largescale Sucker (Catostomus macrocheilus) in the lower Columbia River (USA) was evaluated using morphometric and histopathological approaches, and its association with organic contaminants accumulated in liver was evaluated in males. Fish were sampled from three sites along a contaminant gradient. In 2009, body length and mass, condition factor, gonadosomatic index, and hematocrit were measured in males and females; liver and gonad tissue were collected from males for histological analyses; and organ composites were analyzed for contaminant content in males. In 2010, additional data were collected for males and females, including external fish condition assessment, histopathologies of spleen, kidney and gill and, for males, liver contaminant content. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that biological traits in males, but not females, differed among sites in 2009 and 2010. Discriminant function analysis indicated that site-related differences among male populations were relatively small in 2009, but in 2010, when more variables were analyzed, males differed among sites in regards to kidney, spleen, and liver histopathologies and gill parasites. Kidney tubular hyperplasia, liver and spleen macrophage aggregations, and gill parasites were generally more severe in the downstream sites compared to the reference location. The contaminant content of male livers was also generally higher downstream, and the legacy pesticide hexachlorobenzene and flame retardants BDE-47 and BDE-154 were the primary drivers for site discrimination. However, bivariate correlations between biological variables and liver contaminants retained in the discriminant models failed to reveal associations between the two variable sets. In conclusion, whereas certain non-reproductive biological traits and liver contaminant contents of male Largescale Sucker differed according to an upstream-downstream gradient in the lower Columbia River, results from this study did not reveal the specific environmental factors responsible for the differences in health status among fish populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131, USA.
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon Water Science Center, 2130 SW 5th Avenue, Portland, OR 97201, USA.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nilsen
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystems Science Center, 777 NW 9th St., Suite 400, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grove
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey and Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Departments of Natural Resources Management and of Biological Sciences, Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2120, USA. Electronic address: reynaldo.patino@ttu.edu.
authors.forename: Reynaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patiño
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003531:Cypriniformes / Q000502:physiology*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D009922:Oregon; D010575:Pesticides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014861:Washington; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Columbia River; Liver organic contaminants; Teleost; Tissue histopathology