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Lesions and parasites in white suckers, Catostomus commersoni , in bleached‐kraft pulp mill‐contaminated and reference rivers
Author(s) -
Couillard Catherine M.,
Gag Pierre,
Hodson Peter V.,
Dodson Julian J.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620140616
Subject(s) - catostomus , kraft process , pulp mill , pulp (tooth) , contamination , kraft paper , biology , environmental science , pulp and paper industry , ecology , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , environmental engineering , medicine , pathology , engineering , effluent
The objective of this study was to determine if the prevalences of lesions and parasites were different in white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) living upstream and downstream from a bleached‐kraft pulp mill in the St. Maurice River, Quebec, Canada. Fish were sampled from two downstream and one upstream sites and were examined internally and externally. Fish living downstream from the mill had more abundant visceral fat, a higher prevalence of deformed fin rays, and a higher prevalence of black livers than fish caught upstream. They were also more frequently infested by intestinal parasites and less frequently infested by larvae of the nematode Eustrongylides in the mesentery. These changes could not be associated specifically to exposure to the pulp mill effluent since they were either explained by among‐site differences in fish length or by an upstream‐downstream ecological gradient other than the effluent gradient. This ecological gradient was demonstrated by comparison with a reference river, the Gatineau, that had similar physical characteristics but no pulp mill.