EFFECTS OF PULP AND PAPER-MILL EFFLUENT (BKME) ON PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE ROACH (RUTILUS-RUTILUS L)

The effects of bleached kraft pulp and paper mill effluent (BKME) on t he roach (Rutilus rutilus L.) were studied under experimental and natu ral field conditions. In the acute experiment (72 h exposure to the co ncentrated BKME), the roach suffered from a general stress syndrome, c haracterized by a significant increase of cortisol and blood glucose, as well as a significant decrease of leucocrit and total plasma protei n. In three weeks' exposure in a polluted and an unpolluted lake and i n fish caught from the same lakes, the more specific effects of BKME t reatments appeared. During the three weeks' exposure, slight hyperglyc aemia as well as a decrease in a transaminase activity (GPT) and incre ase in the plasma total protein concentration of the fish occurred in the polluted lake. Fish caught from the polluted lake exhibited lower values of haematocrit, transaminases (GOT and GPT), and calcium concen tration plus a higher chloride concentration in the plasma than in the unpolluted lake. The differential leukocyte counts also showed slight differences: Fewer lymphocytes and more granulocytes were found in ro ach from polluted waters. The morphology of the red blood cells in the roach from polluted lakes had more elongate erythrocytes with a longe r major axis and a shorter minor axis than in fish from the polluted l ake. The possibilities of determining the origin of fish based on thei r erythrocyte morphology is discussed.