Effect of Copper Sulphate (CuSO4) on Freshwater Snail, Physa acuta Draparnaud, 1805: A Histopathological Evaluation

Histomorphometric Assessment of Pentachlorophenol Toxic Effects on the Freshwater Snail <i>Holandriana holandrii</i>

“…The hepatopancreas is known as the most important organ for bioaccumulation of pesticides and other toxic substances like heavy metals in molluscs, e.g. [23,30].…”

“…Molluscs´ hepatopancreas is central metabolic organ involved in extracellular and intracellular food digestion, secretion of digestive enzymes, in storage of lipids and glycogen, as well as in detoxification [21,22]. Accordingly, hepatopancreas is target organs in excretion of xenobiotics and highly recommended for physiological and toxicological studies [22,23]. Structural changes within hepatopancreas are visible in blind-ending tubules, encircled by thin layer of connective tissue, which consist of single layer epithelium with two cell types, digestive and basophilic cells [24].…”

The Danubian cryptic invader Theodoxus fluviatilis (Gastropoda: Neritidae) in the River Rhine: a potential indicator for metal pollution?

“…Examination included determination of sex to calculate the proportion of females per site and analysis of the proportion of snails per site affected by pathological findings in tissues and organs, which were haemocyte infiltrations, midgut gland, kidney, or gill dilatations, as well as male gonad pathology (i.e., dilatations in male gonads or accessory glands, and stopped spermatogenesis) and female gonad pathology (i.e., dilatations in female gonads or accessory glands, and stopped oogenesis) (Table 2 ; Rothmeier et al 2020 ). These tissues and organs are commonly investigated in histopathology, because a magnitude of studies indicate pathological changes and/or deformations as responses to a variety of environmental stressors (e.g., Otludil and Ayaz 2020 ; Rothmeier et al 2020 ; Watermann et al 2008 ).…”

“…Freshwater snails have often been reported as suitable indicators of metal pollution, since they are abundant in many types of freshwaters, have limited mobility and can accumulate large quantities of metals in their tissues (Das and Khangarot 2011 ; Dhiman and Pant 2021 ; Mahmoud and Abu Taleb 2013 ; Otludil and Ayaz 2020 ). The freshwater snail Theodoxus fluviatilis (Linné, 1758) is native to all large rivers in Central Europe (Bunje 2005 ; Zettler 2008 ) and prefers habitats with high oxygen and calcium contents and low salinity (Kangas and Skoog 1978 ; Zettler et al 2004 ).…”

“…We measured several abiotic (14 water environmental variables plus water and biofilm concentrations of the five common metals Cu, Cr, Sr, Zn, and Fe), and biotic parameters (biofilm mass) at 23 sites at the German Upper River Rhine. Five population and six histopathological parameters were examined on snails collected at all sites, as histopathology is an effective and suitable tool to analyse the effects of contaminants on aquatic organisms on the physiological level especially under field conditions (Otludil and Ayaz 2020 ).…”