Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, 1 Universitetskaya Emb., 199034 St Petersburg, Russia.
J Fish Biol. 2011 Oct;79(4):991-1016. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03078.x. Epub 2011 Aug 30.
This study was designed to describe normal axial skeletal structure in common roach Rutilus rutilus from putative unaffected environmental conditions, and the occurrence of skeletal malformations in the fish from an area under radiation contamination. Specimens were collected from water bodies of the Techa Cascade Reservoirs located near the Mayak atomic industry plant in the River Ob' drainage, Chelyabinsk Province, Russia. One sample was collected from Lake Irtyash, a reservoir of drinkable water, supplying the town of Ozersk, and the other one from a technical reservoir which is a storage of liquid radioactive waste from Mayak and characterized by high radioactive contamination (mostly (90)Sr and (137)Cs). A comparison was made with historical material collected from the River Ob' before the middle of the 20th century, i.e. before the environment became affected by radioactive contamination. A high number of abnormalities of the axial skeleton were detected in both Mayak samples, in 94 and 97% of examined specimens, in contrast to about 20% in the historical specimens. The abnormalities were in both the unpaired fins and the vertebral column, including the caudal complex and included supernumerary elements, fusions, deformities and displacement of the elements. Most axial skeleton abnormalities, however, were minor, such as splitting, shortening or deformation of spines. Severe defects, such as extensive scolioses, lordoses and kyphoses, were not found. The causes of the abnormalities were not identified in this study, but the high incidence of malformations may be attributed to genetically determined imbalance during development. The almost equal distribution of abnormalities among the fish from non-contaminated and radioactive contaminated reservoirs may be explained by either recent gene flow within the population of R. rutilus in the River Techa system or the effect of unknown unfavourable environmental factors such as chemical pollution.
本研究旨在描述来自未受辐射污染环境的普通欧鳊（Rutilus rutilus）正常的轴向骨骼结构，以及来自辐射污染地区鱼类骨骼畸形的发生情况。标本取自俄罗斯奥布河（Ob' River）流域马雅克（Mayak）原子工业厂附近梯斯卡（Techa）水库的水体。一个样本取自供应奥泽尔斯克（Ozersk）镇的饮用水湖伊尔蒂什（Irtyash），另一个样本取自技术水库，该水库是马雅克的液态放射性废物储存库，具有高放射性污染（主要是 (90)Sr 和 (137)Cs）。与 20 世纪中叶之前（即环境受到放射性污染之前）从奥布河采集的历史材料进行了比较。在马雅克的两个样本中，都检测到了大量的轴性骨骼异常，在检查的标本中，分别有 94%和 97%存在异常，而历史标本中只有约 20%存在异常。这些异常包括未配对的鳍和脊柱，包括尾复合体，包括多余的元素、融合、变形和元素移位。然而，大多数轴性骨骼异常是轻微的，如脊柱的分裂、缩短或变形。未发现广泛的脊柱侧凸、前凸和后凸等严重缺陷。本研究未确定异常的原因，但畸形的高发率可能归因于发育过程中遗传决定的不平衡。来自未受污染和放射性污染水库的鱼类中异常的几乎均等分布，可以解释为梯斯卡系统中欧鳊种群最近的基因流动，或者是未知不利环境因素（如化学污染）的影响。
