For revealing the mechanism of allelopathic influence on phytoplankton by aquatic macrophytes, the growth and photosynthetic activities of cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and the chlorophyte Selenastrum capricornutum were investigated when they coexisted with submerged macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum and were exposed to allelopathic polyphenols: pyrogallic acid (PA), gallic acid (GA), ell...

PCBs are mixtures of chlorinated biphenyls with different degrees of chlorination, are hydrophobic chemicals, very persistent and bioaccumulative in aquatic organisms, especially in fishes that are at the end of the food chain and are the final receptors of toxicants. PCBs can be classified as narcotics: they produce no change in the biophase and elicit anesthetic reversible effects. Bioaccumul...

Through literature review, we documented introductions of non-indigenous aquatic flora and fauna into the Great Lakes basin since the early 1800s. We focused on the origin, probable mechanism(s) of introduction and the date and locality of first discovery of Great Lakes exotic species. The Laurentian Great Lakes have been subject to invasion by exotic species since settlement of the region by E...

The toxic effects of triclosan (TCS) on the swordtail fish (Xiphophorus helleri) were assessed based on various biomarkers including enzymatic activities of ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), erythromycin N-demethylase (ERND) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and mRNA expression levels of CYP1A, CYP3A, glutathione S-transferase (GST) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp). The acute toxicity test showed...

Astaxanthin is a biological antioxidant naturally found in a wide variety of aquatic living organisms, and has shown various pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic activities. A recent study reported that the administration of astaxanthin induced a significant reduction in blood pressure and delayed the incidence of stroke in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensi...

The connection between structure and activity of chemical environmental molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are quantitatively explored of three main research directions: one is referring to spectroscopy studies, including mass spectroscopy, chromatography, and astrophysics; the second direction approaches several toxicity studies made on the PAHs effects, i.e. ecotoxicity...

The structure of coelomocytes in the adenophorean aquatic nematode Sphaerolaimus gracilis de Man 1876 was studied with light and electron microscopes. Acid phosphatase and catalase activities were demonstrated by electron microscopy. Two pairs of coelomocytes occurred laterally posterior to the esophagointestinaljunction. The anterior pair of the coelomocytes, with the renette cell and gonad, l...

Phosphatase activities (cell-bounded phosphatases "BP" and freely dissolved phosphatases "D P") in water samples from a natural lake "Laguna Grande" (Antequera, Málaga, Spain) amended with 50 microg/ml of selected insecticides, herbicides and fungicide captan were studied under laboratory controlled conditions (temperature and agitation). Our data show that dissolved alkaline phosphatase was th...

Tributyltin (TBT) has been widely used as an antifouling agent in marine environments since the early 1960s (Huggett et al., 1992), having been applied to boat hulls and to marine aquaculture equipment. Because of its high toxicity of TBT to aquatic organisms (Clark et al., 1988), the use of TBT has been regulated worldwide since the 1980s. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) imposed ...