Histopathological changes in snail, Pomacea canaliculata, exposed to sub-lethal copper sulfate concentrations

• Golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata is a bioindicator for copper pollution.
• Histopathological changes are biomarkers for monitoring Cu in aquatic environment.
• The histopathological alterations in snail were positively correlated to Cu exposure.

The acute toxicity test of Cu including range-finding and definitive test, was performed on golden apple snails, Pomacea canaliculata. The median lethal concentrations (LC50) of Cu at exposure times of 24, 48, 72 and 96 h were 330, 223, 177 and 146 µg/L, respectively. P. canaliculata were exposed to Cu at 146 µg/L for 96 h to study bioaccumulation and histopathological alterations in various organs. Snails accumulated elevated levels of Cu in gill, and lesser amounts in the digestive tract, muscle, and digestive gland. Histopathological investigation revealed several alterations in the epithelia of gill, digestive tract (esophagus, intestine, rectum), and digestive gland. The most striking changes were observed in the epithelium of the gill in which there was loss of cilia, an increase in number of mucus cells, and degeneration of columnar cells. Similar changes occurred in digestive tract epithelium. The digestive gland showed moderate alterations, vacuolization and degeneration of cells and an increase in the number of basophilic cells. We concluded that, P. canaliculata has a great potential as a bioindicator for Cu, and a biomarker for monitoring Cu contamination in aquatic environment.