Abstract
Fish populations are sensitive to environmental impact resulting from many factors, as an introduction of exotic species, industrial or residual waste, oil spills, pesticides or other agents that can directly affect the ecology and species survival. Astyanax altiparanae is pelagic and active swimmer specie and can have serious implications on its way of life as changes in muscle structure of fish may occur since the presence of pollutants in the water. In this study we analyze the alterations in Muscle and collagen fibers of the pectoral muscles and pollutants exposed flows contained in water with biodegradable detergents, and water coming from the Blue Lake, River clear-SP (2o24'39S, 47o33'39E) diluted. Effects of these exposures were analyzed during the period of seven and thirty days. Compared with acclimatized fish (Astyanax altiparanae) with pure water from an artesian well, the muscle fibers morphology and collagen concentration on them have changed due to the exposure to urban pollutants and biodegradable detergents.
Highlights
Muscle tissues generate and transmit power and can be formed by several types of muscle cells such as skeletal, cardiac or smooth muscle cells
Collagen is the main constituent of connective tissue in fish muscles
In fish, red muscle has a higher lipid content than white muscle, a greater number of mitochondria per cell and higher respiratory rate; red fibers are aerobic with slow contraction [8]
Summary
Muscle tissues generate and transmit power and can be formed by several types of muscle cells such as skeletal, cardiac or smooth muscle cells. Muscle fibers are distributed in different areas or compartments, while in mammals there is mosaic pattern of distribution [1] Another important characteristic of the fish muscular system is multiplyinnervated contractile fibers. Red/white fiber ratio in a fish’s body is related to lifestyle, pelagic fishes have higher proportions of red fibers while white muscle fibers predominate in benthic fishes [7] [10] This dependence on swimming speed and lifestyle reflects a flexibility in muscle morphology that makes it useful as a tool for environmental assessment, especially in cases where swimming speed can be impaired by pollutant exposure. We analyzed morphological changes in red and white fibers of the pectoral and tail muscle of Astyanax altiparanae exposed to biodegradable detergents and polluted water from an urban lake
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