Comparison of the effects of pollution on the marine bivalve Donax trunculus in the vicinity of polluted sites with specimens from a clean reference site (Mediterranean Sea).

The physiological and biochemical characteristics of tissue samples of the marine mussel, Donax trunculus, from an oil-polluted site (Qiryat Yam) and from a site adjacent to an industrial factory (Frutarom) producing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were compared with samples from a clean reference site (Akko). All sites were located along the sandy shores of the Israeli Mediterranean Sea. The mussels from the oil-polluted site showed increased activity of the system of active transport of organic anions (SATOA) in the gills and the renocardial organ and also of the multixenobiotic resistance transporter (MXR) in the gills.

Comparative studies of the development and differentiation of chloride cells in tilapine fish with different reproductive styles.

Using light and electron microscopy and fluorescent probes, we followed the ontogenesis of selected organs in embryos of several species of tilapia (Cichlidae, Pisces) with emphasis on chloride cell differentiation in species with two different reproductive styles: we compared the substrate-brooder Tilapia zillii and the mouth-brooders Oreochromis niloticus, O. aureus, Sarotherodon galilaeus, and Tristramella sacra. In all species a transitory blood network system nurtured by the vena caudalis inferiores supplied the yolk sac and preanal finfold during the advanced stages of embryonic and initial stages of larval development.