Aematological and Genotoxicological Research on Pelophylax ridibundus and Bufotes variabilis Living Around the Çan (Çanakkale, Turkey)

Abstract

Haematologic parameters play an important role in the determination of the general health status as well as the physiology of amphibian species and the effects of various stress and poor conditions on some species. With this study, changes in the hematological parameters (red blood cell count, white blood cell count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit value, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin and mean cell hemoglobin concentration) on an aquatic (Pelophylax ridibundus) and a terrestrial (Bufotes variabilis) amphibian living around the Can (Canakkale, Turkey) were presented. Also, to reveal the DNA damage on these two amphibian species, various nuclear abnormalities like micronucleus, binucleated nucleus, lobbed nucleus, blebbed, and notched nucleus were analyzed. As a result of this study, the aquatic amphibian species when compared with the terrestrial amphibian species, significant differences in hemoglobin concentration (U= 22.5; W=88.5; Z= -3.446; p= 0.001), and heterophil count (U=34.00; W=205.00; Z= -3.79; p=0.00) were determined. The hemoglobin concentration of the terrestrial species was found higher while the heterophil count of the aquatic species was higher. Total nuclear abnormalities were found higher on the B. variabilis species but there was not a significant statistical difference. The micronucleus and other nuclear abnormalities of these two amphibian species when compared, the frequency of the notched nucleus was found statistically different. The frequency of the notched nucleus was higher in the B. variabilis species.