Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA.
Department of Ocean Engineering And Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Blvd, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 25;8(1):15786. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34140-0.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the largest accidental marine oil spill in history, releasing nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil. Crude oil causes both lethal and sublethal effects on marine organisms, and sensory systems have the potential to be strongly affected. Marine fishes rely upon the effective functioning of their sensory systems for detection of prey, mates, and predators. However, despite the obvious importance of sensory systems, the impact of crude oil exposure upon sensory function remains largely unexplored. Here we show that olfactory organ responses to amino acids are significantly depressed in oil exposed stingrays. We found that the response magnitude of the electro-olfactogram (EOG) to 1 mM amino acids decreased by an average of 45.8% after 48 h of exposure to an oil concentration replicating that measured in coastal areas. Additionally, in oil exposed individuals, the EOG response onset was significantly slower, and the clearing time was protracted. This study is the first to employ an electrophysiological assay to demonstrate crude oil impairment of the olfactory system in a marine fish. We show that stingrays inhabiting an area impacted by an oil spill experience reduced olfactory function, which would detrimentally impact fitness, could lead to premature death, and could cause additional cascading effects through lower trophic levels.
墨西哥湾深海地平线石油泄漏是历史上最大的一起意外海洋石油泄漏事件，共泄漏了近 500 万桶原油。原油对海洋生物既有致命影响，也有亚致死影响，而感觉系统有可能受到强烈影响。海洋鱼类依靠其感觉系统的有效运作来探测猎物、配偶和捕食者。然而，尽管感觉系统显然非常重要，但原油暴露对感觉功能的影响在很大程度上仍未得到探索。在这里，我们发现，暴露于原油中的黄貂鱼的嗅觉器官对氨基酸的反应明显受到抑制。我们发现，暴露于与沿海地区测量值相当的石油浓度 48 小时后，电生理学鼻测图（EOG）对 1mM 氨基酸的反应幅度平均下降了 45.8%。此外，在暴露于石油的个体中，EOG 反应的起始时间明显较慢，清除时间延长。这项研究首次采用电生理学检测方法，证明了在海洋鱼类中，原油会损害嗅觉系统。我们发现，生活在受石油泄漏影响地区的黄貂鱼的嗅觉功能下降，这将对其适应能力造成不利影响，可能导致其过早死亡，并通过较低的营养级产生额外的级联效应。
