One thousand three hundred seventy three fish specimens of eight different species from the vicinity of Kyiv, Ukraine, were examined for the presence of trypanosomes and 921 individuals were found to be infected. The prevalence of infection ranged from 24% in freshwater bream, Abramis brama (Linnaeus), to 100% in spined loach, Cobitis 'taenia' Linnaeus. The level of parasitaemia also varied sig...

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are widely used industrial chemicals, residues of which can be nowadays found in all environmental compartments. The widespread presence of BFRs in various environmental compartments and food chain is a consequence of both their broad application area and physico-chemical properties, such as resistance to degradation and high lipophilicity. Alike in the case o...

Question: How does sexual ornamentation relate to parasite infection, host immune response and somatic condition status in male fish? Hypotheses: Zahavi’s (1975) handicap hypothesis proposes that producing secondary sexual traits represents a considerable handicap for males. Additionally, Hamilton and Zuk (1982) proposed that the expression of secondary sexual traits reveals a genetic resistanc...

The main objective of this study was to collect new data on the occurrence, levels of priority and emerging organic compounds in freshwater fish sampled in the Rhone River. The 34 studied contaminants included alkylphenols, bisphenol A, polybromodiphenylethers (PBDE), perfluorinated compounds, hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCD), hexachlorobenzene and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD). About 50 fish sample...

Biomonitoring is currently performed at two levels, assessing exposure to pollutants and effects monitoring by bioassays. As an example for the first approach, vitellogenin (VTG) in male fish of Abramis brama as an endpoint for estrogen exposure is discussed. However, similar changes of VTG or VTG-like proteins in the hemolymph of mussels could not be detected. Enzyme-linked receptor assays for...

Myxobolus dogieli Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya & Bykhovski, 1940 is regarded as a site specific myxosporean, infecting the heart of cyprinid fish. During a survey of the myxosporean fauna of Lake Balaton fish, heart myxobolosis was found in the common bream, Abramis brama, with heavy infection of the ventricle and the bulbus arteriosus in some infected bream. Developing and mature plasmodia were mos...

We compare the results of different monitoring programs regarding spatial and temporal trends of priority hazardous substances of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Fish monitoring data for hexachlorobenzene (HCB), mercury (Hg), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) sampled in German freshwaters between the mid-1990s and 2014 were evaluated according to the recommendations of the ...