Water Chemistry and Smallmouth Bass Biological Data from Pine Creek and West Branch Mahantango Creek, Pennsylvania, 2015-2019 (In Press)
Dates
Publication Date
2024-04-26
Start Date
2015-04-15
End Date
2019-05-29
Citation
Walsh, H.L., Blazer, V.S., Gordon, S.E., Smith, G., and Schall, M., 2024, Water Chemistry and Smallmouth Bass Biological Data from Pine Creek and West Branch Mahantango Creek, Pennsylvania, 2015-2019: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P13EHVRD.
Summary
Monitoring wild fish health and associated exposure effects in regions where agriculture and development have impacted rivers and streams has become a valuable research tool. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are a sensitive, indicator species that exhibit symptoms of immunosupression and endocrine disruption in response to water quality changes and contaminant exposure. In the Susquehanna River drainage, smallmouth bass have been used in biomonitoring assessments to help understand changes in the population due to poor young-of-the-year recruitment and health effects. To help determine effects of agriculture and development on smallmouth bass health, two sites (a developed/agriculture site and a forested site) were selected where [...]
Summary
Monitoring wild fish health and associated exposure effects in regions where agriculture and development have impacted rivers and streams has become a valuable research tool. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are a sensitive, indicator species that exhibit symptoms of immunosupression and endocrine disruption in response to water quality changes and contaminant exposure. In the Susquehanna River drainage, smallmouth bass have been used in biomonitoring assessments to help understand changes in the population due to poor young-of-the-year recruitment and health effects. To help determine effects of agriculture and development on smallmouth bass health, two sites (a developed/agriculture site and a forested site) were selected where bass and water chemistry were sampled from 2015-2019. Bass were sampled for histopathology to assess parasite and macrophage aggregate density in the liver and spleen, condition factor (Ktl), hepatic gene transcripts (immune function, oxidative stress, cell proliferation, stress, and contaminant, thyroid, and insulin/pancreas metabolism), hepatosomatic index (HSI), and a health assessment index (HAI). Land use at the developed/agricultural site included greater pesticide application rates and % high phytoestrogen crop cover and there were more detections and higher concentrations of pesticides, wastewater-associated contaminants, hormones, phytoestrogens, and mycotoxins than at the forested site. Additionally at this site, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, and thyroid-related hepatic gene transcripts were associated with contaminants/land use applications; whereas at the forested site there were far fewer associations. At both sites, there were multiple associations of contaminants/land use applications with biological variables (HSI, Ktl, and liver and spleen macrophage aggregate density), which may indicate that changes at the molecular level may be a better indicator of exposure effects unique to each site. This work will help to understand the importance of timing for land management practices, how contaminants change temporally, and that agricultural practices affect hepatic gene transcripts associated with immune function and disease resistance and may negatively affect the health of smallmouth bass.
Smallmouth bass were from sampled Pine and West Branch Mahantango Creek in Pennsylvania (located within the Chesapeake Bay drainage) for a long-term, temporal study from 2015-2019 in the spring and fall. Tissues were taken for histopathology (to determine liver and spleen parasite density) and condition factor (Ktl), hepatosomatic index (HSI), health assessment index (HAI) and hepatic gene transcript quantification (including genes associated with stress, oxidative stress, immune function, thyroid, insulin/pancreas, lipid metabolism, and contaminant metabolism). Water chemistry was sampled monthly and bi-monthly (March-May) and land use was analyzed and associations with biological endpoints and transcripts were analyzed.
