436 



Fishery Bulletin 88(3). 1990 



Other investigators have reported hematological ef- 

 fects of copper exposure in various fish species. 

 Christensen et. al. (1972) reported significant increases 

 in hematocrit and hemoglobin in the brown bullhead 

 Ictalurus nebulosus following copper exposure. The ex- 

 posure levels ranged from 27 to 107 t^glL, compared 

 with our 10 and 20 i^glL, and the changes were noted 

 in the fish exposed to 40-107 ^g/L copper. It is possi- 

 ble that the lack of copper effects in the present study 

 simply reflects a low exposure level. 



The results of the cadmium exposure were similar 

 to those obtained in an earlier exposure of the winter 

 flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus, to cadmium 

 in this laboratory (Calabrese et al. 1975). In the earlier 

 study, winter flounder were exposed for 60 days to 5 

 or 10 piglL Cd, as were the windowpane flounder in the 

 present study. No hematological changes were ob- 

 served in winter flounder, although Na, K, and Ca were 

 not measured. Larsson (1975) reported decreased 

 hematocrits and hemoglobin concentrations following 

 a 9- week exposure of the flounder Pleuronectes Jlesus 

 L. to concentrations of cadmium as low as 5 /jg/L. The 

 same study demonstrated decreased calcium and 

 potassium, but these were observed only at higher Cd 

 concentrations. 



Both the laboratory exposures and the field-sampling 

 portion of this study suggest that the windowpane 

 flounder is a hardy animal. The higher hematocrit and 

 hemoglobin at the most polluted station compared with 

 the least polluted station suggest an increase in 

 hematopoiesis. The plasma osmolality, normally well 

 below the osmolality of the surrounding water, was 

 lower in fish collected from the most polluted station 

 than in those collected from the cleanest station, in- 

 dicating no loss of osmoregulatory ability. The limited 

 effects of cadmium, copper and mercury exposures in- 

 dicate that the species is not particularly vulnerable to 

 these pollutants. These facts taken together suggest 

 that the windowpane flounder at the most polluted sta- 

 tion were subject to a stress, perhaps pollutant-induced, 

 sufficient to challenge their metabolism, but a stress 

 to which they were capable of adjusting. 



Acknowledgments 



The author thanks S. Schurman, D. Kapareiko, and D. 

 Tucker for technical assistance. 



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