María Eugenia López-Islas; Itzel Ibarra-Meza; Esperanza Ortiz-Ordóñez; Liliana Favari; J. Elías Sedeño-Díaz & Eugenia López-López

Wetlands are very productive ecosystems and water birds complete their lifecycle there. Unfortunately, they constantly receive xenobiotics which can cause damage in aquatic organisms. This work assessed the health conditions of Fulica ameri- cana through histopathological and oxidative stress biomarkers and somatic indices in two wetlands from the Mexico Basin to evaluate the effect of habitat conditions on the birds health. The specimens were collected from Xochimilco (X) and Tecocomulco (T) wetlands during an annual cycle. They were eviscerated and weighed. Liver samples were taken for histological analysis and to quantify the lipid peroxidation (LPO) in the laboratory. The coots were aged. The water quality from both wetlands was analyzed. The liver tissue was embedded in liquid paraffin and was stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Two pathologies were detected in three levels each (I, II and III): leukocyte infiltration (IN) and vasocongestion (VA). The highest prevalence of both damages were observed in T coots, while the highest IN percentage was detected in X coots. The maximum LPO levels were detected during winter at T, which could be related to hunter season and the wintering migratory birds. In X the highest LPO levels were related to breeding season. The biggest eviscerated body mass was noted in T males and the smallest in the X females. All coots reached the highest hepatosomatic index during autumn and the minimum during spring. American coot can be used as sentinel because it is able to present differentiated responses, somatic indices, histopathological biomarkers and oxidative stress in different locations, sex and periods of the year.

LÓPEZ-ISLAS, M. E.; IBARRA-MEZA, I.; ORTIZ-ORDÓÑEZ, E.; FAVARI, L.; SEDEÑO-DÍAZ, J. E. & LÓPEZ-LÓPEZ, E. Liver histopatology, lipidperoxidation and somatic indices of Fulica americana in Xochimilco (urban) and Tecocomulco (rural) wetlands in the Mexico Basin. Int. J. Morphol., 34(2):522-532, 2016.