Native crustacean species as a bioindicator of freshwater ecosystem pollution: A multivariate and integrative study of multi-biomarker response in active river monitoring

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of Palaemonetes argentinus to evidence the environmental degradation due to pollutants mixture in a freshwater aquatic ecosystem. For this purpose, an active monitoring (96 h exposure) was carried out in seven sites along the Ctalamochita River basin (Córdoba, Argentina), as a case of study. Our results evidenced sewage discharges impact in the water quality index, as well as metal pollution in water (Ag, Al, B, Pb, Hg) and sediments (Hg) with a potential effect on aquatic biota. The accumulation of total metals measured in exposed P. argentinus showed significant correlation with metals in water. Also, metallothioneins in cephalothorax showed significant changes along the basin, correlating with soluble concentrations of Cr, Zn, Cd, Hg, and V measured in shrimp tissues, which would be reflecting their bioavailability in the environment. In addition, the increase in antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes suggests the occurrence of oxidative stress in exposed shrimps. The integrative biomarker response index (IBR) pointed out the effect of metals on P. argentinus but also the occurrence of others pollutants. Finally, a high consensus was observed for water, sediments, and shrimps through the multivariate analysis (90%), indicating that P. argentinus can reflect changes in the abiotic matrixes. Moreover, studied sites were grouped according to their environmental quality. The use of active biomonitoring and the integration of biological responses through an IBR confirm that native biota could be a useful monitoring tool for bioavailable pollutants in aquatic ecosystems constituting a highly valuable approach.