The response of rainbow trout salmo gaird neri to aeromonas hydrophila after sublethal exposures to PCB and copper

• Published in: Environmental pollution. Series A. Ecological and biological Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 219 - 232
• Main Author: Snarski, Virginia M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 1982
• ISSN: 0143-1471
• DOI: 10.1016/0143-1471(82)90078-2

Rainbow trout were continuously exposed to sublethal PCB concentrations of 7·3 and 14·7 μg litre −1 for 30 days and infected with A. hydrophila or sham-injected. Mortality of PCB-exposed infected fish was significantly lower than control-infected fish. Survivors of the infection at all exposure concentrations had elevated leucocrits and decreased haematocrits compared with their respective shams. PCB-exposed sham fish had significantly higher leucocrits at both concentrations and significantly lower haematocrits at 14·7 μg litre −1 compared with control-shams. Among the infected fish, leucocrits at both PCB concentrations were higher than the control, but haematocrits were not different at any concentration. No significant adverse effects on rainbow trout of copper at 10·9 and 21·5 μg litre −1 were found in a similar 30-day exposure- A. hydrophila infection study. Mortality of Cu-exposed infected fish was not different from that in control-infected fish and haematocrits and leucocrits showed no significant differences related to copper concentration.