Chromosomal aberration assessment of silver rasbora fish (Rasbora tornieri) living near gold mine area with heavy metal contamination

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb), contamination in water, sediment, and Rasbora tornieri samples and chromosomal aberration in R. tornieri near gold mine area compared to unaffected area. The heavy metal concentrations in the samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The difference of As, Cr, and Pb concentrations in R. tornieri samples between the gold mine and unaffected areas was statistically significant (p < 0.05), but the difference was not significant for Cd. The diploid chromosome number of R. tornieri from both areas was 2n = 50, and the chromosomal aberrations of R. tornieri were higher in the gold mine area than those in the unaffected area. There are six types of chromosomal aberrations, including centric fragmentation (CF), centric gap, single chromatid gap, fragmentation, deletion, and polyploidy. The most common chromosomal aberration in the samples from the gold mine area was C...