ANOMALIES IN SCULPINS (MYOXOCEPHALUS SPP) SAMPLED NEAR A PULP AND PAPER-MILL

This study investigated anomalies in two species of benthic sculpins ( Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus and M. scorpius) inhabiting a marine i nlet in Newfoundland, Canada, where effluent from a pulp and paper mil l is discharged and from two reference sites. Condition factor of both species of sculpins from the polluted and a reference site was simila r. Some differences in parasite fauna were observed. Tissues from refe rence fish, obtained from two uncontaminated sites for comparison, wer e normal. Impaired vision, fin and tail necrosis, hyperplasia of the g ill epithelium, depletion of energy reserves in the liver, and multifo cal hemosiderosis in the spleen were observed primarily in M. octodece mspinosus captured near the paper mill. These stress-associated lesion s, probably caused by undetermined xenobiotics, appear to be associate d with the sediment.