Dynamics of metal uptake and depuration in a parasitized cyprinid fish (Rastrineobola argentea).

Infestation of fish by endoparasites may potentially influence metal uptake and elimination by the host. We quantified the metal uptake rate constant (k(u)) and efflux rate constants (k(e)) of radiolabeled Cd and Co in the cyprinid fish Rastrineobola argentea experimentally infected with the parasite Ligula intestinalis. During 24h, the accumulation of Cd and Co increased linearly with no evident steady state in uninfected fish, infected fish and in the parasite.

Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laubach dynamics and succession in the Nyanza Gulf of Lake Victoria (east Africa): implications for water quality and biodiversity conservation.

This study, conducted in Nyanza Gulf of Lake Victoria, assessed ecological succession and dynamic status of water hyacinth. Results show that water hyacinth is the genesis of macrophyte succession. On establishment, water hyacinth mats are first invaded by native emergent macrophytes, Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.

Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus and Rastrineobola argentea as sources of human exposure in Kisumu Bay, Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria.

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus and Rastrineobola argentea from three beaches were assessed to establish whether they are sources of human exposure in Kisumu Bay, Winam Gulf, Lake Victoria, Kenya. O. niloticus had 12 PAHs detected (TPAH 3.

Parasites modify sub-cellular partitioning of metals in the gut of fish.

Infestation of fish by parasites may influence metal accumulation patterns in the host. However, the subcellular mechanisms of these processes have rarely been studied. Therefore, this study determined how a cyprinid fish (Rastrineobola argentea) partitioned four metals (Cd, Cr, Zn and Cu) in the subcellular fractions of the gut in presence of an endoparasite (Ligula intestinalis).

Does water hyacinth on East African lakes promote cholera outbreaks?

Cholera outbreaks continue to occur regularly in Africa. Cholera has been associated with proximity to lakes in East Africa, and Vibrio cholerae has been found experimentally to concentrate on the floating aquatic plant, water hyacinth, which is periodically widespread in East African lakes since the late 1980s. From 1994 to 2008, Nyanza Province, which is the Kenyan province bordering Lake Victoria, accounted for a larger proportion of cholera cases than expected by its population size (38.

The fate of organic matter in a papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) dominated tropical wetland ecosystem in Nyanza Gulf (Lake Victoria, Kenya) inferred from delta13C and delta15N analysis.

Papyrus swamps usually form at the interface between river inlet and open lake. From one such wetland ecosystem (the Kibos system located in the Nyanza Gulf, Lake Victoria, Kenya), three sediment cores were recovered using piston corer in order to determine the fate of organic matter derived from papyrus and possible nutrient pathways in this system. The coring represented a transect from the river through the floating papyrus mat to the lake.