THE EFFECT OF SHORT-TERM EXPOSURE TO LOW pH/ALUMINUM ON THE ION REGULATION, RELATED ATPase ACTIVITIES AND HAEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF JUVENILE COMMON CARP.

Aquatic acidification has been becoming a major issue in recent years. Concomitant with aquatic acidification, Aluminum (Al) toxicity also pose threat to the fish. The purpose of the present study was to assess the combined effect of aquatic acidification and Al on ion concentrations in plasma, ATPase activities in liver and kidney, and health status of fish. Juvenile common carp were exposed to solutions with different combined concentrations of pH (7, 5) and Al (0, 800 µg L^-1) for 1, 3, 9 days. We found that 9 days exposure to Al increased the levels of Na⁺ and Cl^-. The K⁺ level significantly increased in low pH and low pH/Al treatments after exposure for 1 and 9 days. Furthermore, the activities of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-ATPase in liver were significantly decreased after exposure for 3 and 9 days, which indicated that the liver played an important role in coping with the stress. Besides, the increase of RBC and decrease of WBC also reconfirmed the toxic effect of low pH and Al on common carp. These results provide some evidence on understanding the impact of low pH and Al on the health status of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]