Metal accumulation in ecto- and endoparasites from the anadromous fish, the Pontic shad (Alosa immaculata).

Although the infestation with a high number of blood-feeding monogeneans anchored in the gill tissue can result in severe anaemia of the fish host (Buchmann and Bresciani, 2006; Gérard I et al i ., 2016) our study did not exhibit any obvious effect of I M. alosae i on the health status (i.e. condition factor) of the fish. Keywords: Bioindicator; Danube River; metals; monogeneans; nematodes EN Bioindicator Danube River metals monogeneans nematodes 496 502 7 03/29/22 20220401 NES 220401 Introduction Different biological indicators can be applied for the assessment of metal pollution in aquatic habitats. Interestingly, relatively high bioconcentration factors were obtained for Cd and Pb, with concentrations of Pb being approximately 251 and 33 times higher in the monogeneans and nematodes, respectively, compared to the host muscle. Significant correlations were detected between the presence of nematodes and fish weight ( I r SB s sb i = 0.73), length ( I r SB s sb i = 0.789) and height ( I r SB s sb i = 0.64) considering data from both years, while the correlation between the nematodes and the condition factor of the fish was negative ( I r SB s sb i = -0.649). [Extracted from the article]