By : Sherif H. Abdeen, Abeer E. Abdrabouh, Mohamed I. Mashaly, Ahmed E. Hagras, Ali A. Al-halany

Abstract

Organic pollution is one of environmental hazards, especially in aquatic ecosystems. This study was focusing on levels of total organic carbon (TOC%) in sediment of two freshwater habitats different in quality, as well as tissues including; muscles and gonads of two fish species inhabiting both sites during four seasons of one year of study. Ammar drain as a polluted site showed significantly higher levels of TOC% in both sediment and fish tissues comparing to River Nile as a reference site. Data also illustrated that, fish from polluted site showed remarkable decrease in blood indices; RBCs count, Hb content and Hct%, while WBCs count was mostly elevated, especially during autumn. Accompanying to these results, antioxidant enzymes as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were generally decreased during most seasons in fish samples from Ammar drain. Also, histopathological changes in muscles and gonads were observed, where sever deteriorations in these tissues were more discriminating in fish species from Ammar drain compared to River Nile locality. From the obtained results, polluted water drains affect general health and structure of their inhabiting fish species.

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Dr.Abeer Dec 2017

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