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Helminthic Fish Parasites as Bioindicators of Metals Pollution in the Aquatic Environments: Review

Article

Last updated: 01 Jan 2025

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Abstract

This review focused on comparing the capability of different helminthic taxa infecting fish to accumulate heavy metals in their bodies, as well as the conditions that influenced such accumulation. Fish-parasite models, fish habitat, elements accumulated, and host tissues analyzed were considered in the present article. The papers published between 2010 and 2022, concerned with helminthic fish parasites, which were used as biological indicators of metal contamination in aquatic environments were retrieved using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Four taxa of helminthic parasites were assessed to be bioindicators: acanthocephalan, nematodes, cestodes and trematodes. Fish parasites can accumulate heavy metals at levels of magnitude orders higher levels than their fish hosts' tissues, and can give helpful information on the chemical status of their environment. Compared to helminths that have a gastrointestinal tract; gutless helminths are better sentinels for metal pollution. Factors that impacted the metal accumulation in both fish and their parasites were investigated in a number of retrieved studies. There are various benefits to using fish parasites as bioindicators of heavy metal contamination, but three stand out: protecting fish health as an important element of the ecosystem, monitoring pollution levels in the environment, and safeguarding human health by determining the suitability of fish for human consumption in terms of the accumulation of heavy elements in it. In addition, researchers in the field of ecotoxicology who use fish as bioindicators must keep in mind that parasites reduce heavy metal bioaccumulation in the tissues of their hosts.

DOI

10.21608/ejabf.2023.309320

Keywords

Fish parasites, Biological indicators, metals pollution, Aquatic environments

Authors

First Name

Osama

Last Name

Mostafa et al.

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Orcid

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Volume

27

Article Issue

3

Related Issue

41228

Issue Date

2023-05-01

Receive Date

2023-07-23

Publish Date

2023-05-01

Page Start

1,025

Page End

1,051

Print ISSN

1110-6131

Online ISSN

2536-9814

Link

https://ejabf.journals.ekb.eg/article_309320.html

Detail API

https://ejabf.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=309320

Order

59

Type

Review articles

Type Code

315

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries

Publication Link

https://ejabf.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Helminthic Fish Parasites as Bioindicators of Metals Pollution in the Aquatic Environments: Review

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Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024