Abstract
Khlong Saen Saep in Bangkok is a polluted canal whose water quality fails to meet standard criteria in many areas. We hence assessed the effects of pollution on the striped catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) commonly found in polluted areas of the canal. Fish were sampled from two stations in Khlong Saen Saep: Masjid Kamalulislam and Wat Bumpennue. Dissolved oxygen (DO) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) indicated that the water quality of the former was better compared to the latter. Accordingly, total length, total weight, and condition factor were all higher in fish caught from Masjid Kamalulislam than in those from Wat Bumpennue. The hematologic profiling showed no significant difference between fish from the two stations, but the presence of some leucocytes suggested the existence of inflammation in fish from both stations. Importantly, fish from Wat Bumpennue showed higher prevalence of histopathological alterations, such as aneurysm, edema, hyperplasia, and fusion of filaments in gills; blood congestion and granuloma formation in the liver; renal degeneration and karyolysis in the renal tubule; and melanomacrophage centers (MMCS) in the liver and kidney. The use of integrated biomarkers thus illustrated the ongoing detrimental effects of pollution on the striped catfish, emphasizing the importance of conserving water resources.
Acknowledgments
We would like to deeply express our gratitude and sincere thanks to the Fish Biology and Aquatic Health Assessment Laboratory (FBA-LAB) Department of Marine Science, Chulalongkorn University, for their technical support in a laboratory and informative discussion.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.