Pathological changes in liver morphology of Crucian carp (Carassius carassius) from Seferani Lake in Dumrea region.

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of stress in liver of Carassius carassius, a freshwater fish that normally dwell in the bottom layer of the waters of lakes, rivers and reservoirs. It is a sedentary fish that naturally feeds on zoo benthos and plant components and thanks to its sensitivity to the changes in surrounding medium is an ideal animal for indication of the health of freshwater aquatic ecosystems. It is susceptible for the teleost fish liver to be disturbed by numerous, stressful factors that influence in their health. Liver pieces of 30 individuals collected from Seferani Lake, in Dumrea region (Elbasan, Albania), were excised and processed for standard histopathological analysis. The result revealed pathological changes in liver tissue including heterogeneity of tissue parenchyma, irregular hepatocyte cells and their nuclei. Massive vacuolization of liver cells and their nuclei, necrotic foci, karyolysis and karyopicnosis were also observed. Our findings imply that histopathological evaluation can be used effectively as biomarker of fish physiological stress response and health status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]