Effects of water quality on aspects of reproductive biology of Cnesterodon decemmaculatus

ZAMBRANO, MICAELA JIMENA; RAUTENBERG, GISELA EVELÍN; BONIFACIO, ALEJO FABIAN; FILIPPI, IOHANNA; AMÉ, MARÍA VALERIA; BONANSEA, ROCÍO INÉS; HUED, ANDREA CECILIA

THE SCIENCE OF TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

Elsevier B.V.

Año: 2018 vol. 645 p. 10 - 10

0048-9697

he Suquía River basin (Córdoba, Argentina) is under a strong negative impact due to multiple sources of anthropic pollution. The main goal of our study was to evaluate if variations in the water quality of Suquía river basin affect the reproductive biology of Cnesterodon decemmaculatus and determine if the responses provided by the species can be considered as biomarkers of river quality. This assessment was performed through the measurement of morphological, histological and somatic parameters in adult males collected at four sampling sites during the beginning and the end of the breeding season. The water quality evaluation carried out through the estimation of a water quality index (WQI) and pesticides concentrations in water, revealed a pollution gradient along the studied basin. The same variation pattern was registered for the somatic index. In addition, the analysis of the morphology of the male copulatory organ (gonopodium) showed that individuals collected at Córdoba city had