Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

1991

Abstract

This report details histopathological findings of atypical vacuolated hepatocytes in the white perch Morone americana. Vacuolated cell lesions have been reported from a number of species in association with degraded habitats, often in the presence of hepatic neoplasms. Extensive atypical vacuolated cell lesions assuming characteristic acinar or ductular configurations have been reported previously only from the winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus. Light microscopic findings, utilizing a variety of histochemical stains, suggest the identical nature of this lesion to that of winter flounder. The discovery of this lesion in a free-swimming species, feeding throughout the water column, is in direct contrast to that of the bottom dwelling pleuronectid, feeding from and constantly in contact with potentially contaminated sediments. While the winter flounder has become the sentinel fish species for pollution monitoring on the northeast coast, increased surveillance of other species may prove atypical vacuolated cell lesions represent a common mechanism of chronic cellular injury in relation to impacted environments.

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