Organochlorine pesticides and parasites in Mugil incilis collected in Cartagena Bay, Colombia

Nematode parasites of the Anisakides family are often found in people living in countries where fish is consumed raw or partially cooked. This research shows the histological changes in the liver and spleen of Mugil incilis, collected in Cartagena Bay. These changes are associated with pollution by organochlorine pesticides and their possible influence on the parasite. Organochlorine compounds were extracted using the headspace-solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technique. Residual amounts in the muscle of M. incilis such as β-HCH, γ-HCH, heptachlor, aldrin, endosulfan, 4,4′-DDE, and dieldrin, among others, were identified by gas chromatography connected to an electron capture detector, indicating that the fauna of Cartagena Bay are exposed to these pollutants. Histological analysis was carried out on liver and spleen samples of M. incilis which were fixed, processed, and embedded in paraffin. The presence of melano-macrophages, granulomes, and trematodes in the liver was the most important changes observed. Larval prevalence for the Anisakis spp. was determined to be 1.6 %; for Pseudoterranova spp., 25.3 %, and for Contracaecum spp., 57.8 %. Other parasites such as acanthocephalans were also reported for a total of 15.3 %. Nevertheless, no significant correlation between parasites and organochlorines was found. This study is the first to correlate the presence of organochlorine compounds and histological damage in the liver and spleen of M. incilis, with the presence of parasites in fish from Cartagena Bay (Colombia).