SREL Reprint #2222

Changes in gill morphology of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts due to addition of acid and aluminum to stream water

Charles H. Jagoe1 and Terry A. Haines2

1Department of Zoology, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5751, USA
2US National Biological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Orono Field Station, University of Maine,
5751 Murray Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5751, USA

Abstract: One-year-old Atlantic salmon smolts were held in three artificial channels adjacent to a soft water (mean sp. cond. 30 µS cm-1), circumneutral stream. Water in one channel was untreated (mean pH 6.25); the others received additions of acid (to mean pH 5.6), or acid plus aluminum (to mean pH 5.5; mean exchangeable Al 158 µg litre-1). Gills were sampled after 16 and 23 days of exposure for morphometric examination. On primary lamellae, chloride cells were more numerous in both experimental treatments than in controls. In contrast, numbers of chloride cells on secondary lamellae were elevated only in fish exposed to acid without added Al. Chloride cell size and shape also varied with time and treatment. Fewer gill mucous cells were found in fish exposed to acid plus Al than in controls. Chloride cell proliferation and structural changes may represent an attempt to compensate for increased ionic effluxes with low pH stress by increasing uptake. However, if Al concentrations are high, chloride cells do not proliferate along the secondary lamellae, or proliferating cells are damaged and lost. This may limit the potential to increase ionic uptake.

Keywords: Gill structure, chloride cells, mucous cells, aluminum, acid precipitation

SREL Reprint #2222

Jagoe, C. H. and T. A. Haines. 1996. Changes in gill morphology of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts due to addition of acid and aluminum to stream water. Environmental Pollution 97:137-146.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).