Monitoring aquatic environments receiving industrial effluents using small fish species 2: Comparison between responses of trout‐perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) and white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) downstream of a pulp mill
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AbstractTo further evaluate the suitability of small fish species for sentinel monitoring, a comparison was made between the responses of trout‐perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) and the larger white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) under similar conditions of pulp mill effluent exposure and mobility. Fish were collected upstream and downstream of a thermomechanical pulp mill on the Kapuskasing River, Ontario, Canada, where the presence of a hydro dam restricts the movement of fish between reference and exposure areas. Trout‐perch collected downstream of the mill were shorter, lighter, and younger than upstream fish, whereas exposed white sucker were longer, heavier, and, for male sucker, older than reference fish. Only male trout‐perch showed induced hepatic mixed function oxygenase activity (7‐ethoxyresorufin‐O‐deethylase). Both forskolin‐stimulated in vitro production of 17 β‐estradiol in trout‐perch and plasma concentrations of 17 β‐estradiol in sucker were significantly depressed in exposed fish. The inconsistency in responses between species made it difficult to determine how the opposing responses were related and which species was most sensitive to instream conditions. Despite the discrepancies, use of an interpretation framework indicated that both species identified similar potential problems (e.g., size‐selective mortality and recruitment problems), suggesting that either species could be used as a sentinel species at this site.
