Abstract
Yolk-sac fry of Goldfish (Carassius auratus gibelio) were exposed to various concentrations of Al and pH for 3, 7 and 10 days. In this study number of dead fish, total length of larvae, yolk sac length, swimming activity, the number of gill cover movements and the number of heart beat was measured. The lowest and highest number of gill cover movements belong to the waters containing 50 mg L-1 of aluminum, pH 5.25 and acidic waters with pH 6.7 respectively. There was no significant difference in the number of heartbeat between control group and larvae exposure to acidic waters with pH 6.7 and waters containing 150 mgL-1 of aluminum and the highest number of heartbeat belong to these larvae than other experiment doses. The larval of Goldfish in the all experiment doses lost their swimming ability after 3 days. The highest number of swimming larvae and also lowest number of non-swimming larvae significantly belong to control group compared to other experiment doses (p < 0.05). The larval in the control group only were maintained their swimming activity after 7 and 10 days and in the all experiment treatments lost their swimming ability. There was significant difference in the number of dead larvae and the number of non-swimming larvae between control group and larvae exposure to acidic waters and waters containing 300 mgL-1 of aluminum and pH 4.75 (p < 0.05) and lowest number of non-swimming larvae was observed in the control group. Also the highest of yolk sac length belong to the waters containing 600 mgL-1 of aluminum and pH 4.75. The larvae of Goldfish were not survived in the waters containing 300 and 600 mgL-1 of aluminum and waters with low acidity after 7 days.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-190) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Fish mortality in acidic waters is determined by multiple factors, including pH, inorganic monomeric Al and Ca+2 among the most important
The larvae of Goldfish in the all experiment doses lost their swimming ability after 3 days and all larvae were non-swimming in acidic waters with pH 6.7 and waters containing 50 mg L-1 aluminum and pH 5.25 and pH 6.7, waters containing 50 mg L-1 of aluminum and pH 6.7 and waters containing 250 mg L-1 aluminum and pH 6.7 (Table 1)
The highest number of live and swimming larvae and lowest number of non-swimming larvae significantly belong to control group compared to other experiment doses (P < 0.05)
Summary
Fish mortality in acidic waters is determined by multiple factors, including pH, inorganic monomeric (exchangeable) Al and Ca+2 among the most important. Aluminum is a common element in the Earth crust. The solubility of aluminum in water increases as pH decreases (Smith and Haines, 1995). The toxic effect of aluminum on fish varies with both fish species and life stages. Yolk-sac fry are more sensitive than eggs, but following yolk-sac absorption, sensitivity increases yet further.
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