Chronic Sub-lethal Effects Observed in Wild-Caught Fishes Following Two Major Oil Spills in the Gulf of Mexico: Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2020

Keywords

PAHs, Oil-exposed fish, Sub-lethal effects, Population fitness, LC50

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_24

Abstract

During and subsequent to major oil spill events, considerable attention focuses on charismatic and economic megafauna – and especially fishes – and visual manifestations of impacts upon them. Beginning with a series of tanker accidents occurring in Europe and the USA in the 1970s–1990s, greater awareness of the potential for both acute and chronic sub-lethal impacts on fish populations has focused on exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The ambiguity of acute impacts observed during the Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1 incidents has promoted considerable new research on alternative toxic endpoints that portend short- and long-term sub-lethal outcomes that influence the overall fitness of exposed populations. Laboratory-based exposure studies have traditionally focused on acute mortality-based endpoints (e.g., lethal concentrations at which 50% of the population dies = LC50) and observed at test concentrations normally exceeding environmentally relevant concentrations in real-world spills. Consequently, using laboratory-based toxicity experiments can be problematic inferring impacts on wild fish populations. In this chapter we review historical and more recent information documenting changes in abundance, recruitment, habitat use, population dynamics, trophic changes, and various physiologically based sub-lethal effects on oil-exposed fishes and especially consider research undertaken following the Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1 spills in the Gulf of Mexico.

Comments

Data used in this book chapter are available for download.

PAH Analysis: Bile PAH metabolite concentrations in longline captured fish, Northern Gulf of Mexico, 2011

PAH Analysis: Red Snapper Bile PAH Metabolite Concentrations, Northern Gulf of Mexico, 2012

Catch Data from Fish Collected throughout the Gulf of Mexico from 2011 until 2017

Lesion data from fish collected off Terrebonne Bay, LA to the Dry Tortugas, FL, 2011-2014

Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in liver tissue of golden tilefish collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from 2012-08-13 to 2017-08-01

Pathological findings in red snapper livers collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the north central region, Gulf of Mexico from 2012-08-13 to 2017-08-01

Histological examination of livers of golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from 2012-08-14 to 2016-09-06

Liver anomalies in red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) collected aboard R/V Weatherbird II cruises WB-1701 and WB-1603 in the southern Gulf of Mexico from 2015-09-17 to 2016-08-19

Oxidative stress, genotoxicity, and immune response biomarkers measured in golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from 2015-08-17 to 2017-07-29

Transcriptomics of female golden tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from 2015-08-15 to 2016-09-09

Oxidative stress, genotoxicity, and immune response biomarkers measured in red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from 2015-08-20 to 2017-07-30

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Chronic Sub-lethal Effects Observed in Wild-Caught Fishes Following Two Major Oil Spills in the Gulf of Mexico: Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1, in S. A. Murawski, C. H. Ainsworth, S. Gilbert, D. J. Hollander, C. B. Paris, M. Schlüter & D. L. Wetzel (Eds.), Deep Oil Spills Facts, Fate, and Effects, Springer, p. 388-413

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS