We examined the frequencies of micronucleated peripheral erythrocytes in
Carassius species and
Zacco platypus, captured 4 times from 1996 to 1998 in upstream, midstream, and downstream of the Tomio River, which runs through the residential area of Nara, Japan. In 12 groups categorized by date and locality, the micronucleated erythrocyte frequencies in
Carassius species of some groups were significantly higher than those in goldfish and
C. gibelio langsdorfii bred in clean water under laboratory condition. These results suggest that the quantitative and/or qualitative variations of genotoxic contaminants occur in the river water. There was no significant difference of the frequencies between
Z. platypus and
Carassius species as well as between diploid and triploid
Carassius species. The present study demonstrated that the micronucleus assay using peripheral erythrocytes of fish captured from rivers can be a useful tool to monitor the genotoxic contaminants in the water environment.
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