Water-soluble fraction of petroleum induces genotoxicity and morphological effects in fat snook (Centropomus parallelus)

- The water-soluble fraction of petroleum (WSFP) can trigger alterations in Centropomus parallelus at the cellular level.
- The genotoxic endpoints only partially assessed recovery after 168 h.
- The histopathological analyses indicated that gill was the primary target tissue affected by WSFP exposure.
- The Centropomus parallelus has proven to be useful as a sentinel species.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are one of the primary organic chemicals found in water bodies, and the water-soluble fraction of petroleum (WSFP) may be responsible for much of the toxic effects. In the present study, genotoxicity assays and histopathological analysis of the gills were analyzed for two experimental protocols: 1) Juvenile Centropomus parallelus were exposed to different concentrations of WFSP (0%, 25%, 50% and 75%) for 96 h; 2) A second fish group was exposed to 50% WFSP for 168 h followed by a post-exposure period for 168 h in clean water (recovery). The total benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations at time 0 were 254 μg L−1 and 4.72 μg L−1 in 25%; 552.9 μg L−1 and 9.36 μg L−1 in 50%; and 842.4 μg L−1 and 9.97 μg L−1 in 75% WSFP, respectively. Based on the alkaline comet assay, the damage index (DI) values of fish exposed to 25% WSFP for 96 h were significantly higher than those in the control group, and in the micronucleus test, the higher damage values were found in fish exposed to 75% WSFP. Furthermore, this last genotoxic test showed recovery after 168 h. At all concentrations of WSFP, several histopathological changes were observed, and overall, most of these changes observed in the gills were classified as proliferative changes and represented a protective mechanism against pollutant uptake. Based on the recovery experiment, the damage was also significantly reduced after recovery. Our results showed that short-term exposure to WSFP compounds triggered cellular alterations in C. parallelus, but total recovery did not occur with time. Additionally, the different periods of exposure were not sufficient to induce severe gill damage in C. parallelus. Moreover, this fish demonstrated its usefulness as a sentinel species.