Effect of mussel reproductive status on biomarker responses to PAHs: Implications for large-scale monitoring programs

•Effect of mussel reproductive status on toxicity of fluoranthene was evaluated.•A battery of biochemical and physiological biomarkers was measured.•A larger effect of mussel reproductive status than of toxicant exposure was observed.•Biomarker levels were greater in reproductive than in resting stage mussels.•Mussel gonadal development should be considered in large-scale monitoring programs. Biomarkers are useful tools to assess biological effects of pollutants and have been extensively used in monitoring programs to determine ecosystem health. In these programs, a wide range of environmental conditions are covered and sometimes, obtained data are difficult to interpret because of natural variables are affecting biomarker responses. Among these variables, musseĺs reproductive status has been considered one of the most changing variables between sites in a monitoring survey. Thus, the main aim of this work was to identify the effect that mussel reproductive status has on biomarker responses. For that purpose, mussels sampled at two periods in the reproductive cycle (reproductive and resting stages) were conditioned to the same laboratory conditions and exposed to fluoranthene (FLU) for three weeks. Studied biomarkers covering a wide range of organism responses were included: bioaccumulation, physiological rates (clearance rate −CR-, absorption efficiency −AE-, respiration rate −RR- and their integration in the scope for growth −SFG-), antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide-dismutase −SOD-, catalase −CAT-, glutathione reductase −GR-, glutathione peroxidase −GPx-, glutathione-S-tranferase −GST-) and biochemical damage responses (lipid membrane peroxidation −LPO-). The results obtained evidenced that the levels of the biomarkers studied (RR, SOD, CAT and GPx) were higher at reproductive than at resting stage. On the other hand, the effect of toxicant was observed in SFG, CAT and GPx but this effect was only detected during the resting period. Moreover, there was a deterioration of mussel gonadal tissue with FLU exposure during reproductive stage. FLU accumulation in mussel tissues was also dependent of the reproductive status with higher internal concentrations during resting than reproductive period. In conclusion, there was a strong effect of reproductive status on studied biomarkers which seems to mask the effect of FLU at reproductive stage. The present study evidences the need to include the measurement of mussel biological status in marine pollution