ABSTRACT
During the past two decades, important new findings have added significantly to existing information about the interactions of pollution and disease in fish. Liver tumors and other lesions have been reported from flatfish sampled in grossly polluted estuarine locations in the United States and Europe. Genetic abnormalities in developing fish embryos and structural anomalies in larvae have been found in several studies to be related to the extent of chemical pollution. Fin erosion in fish has been postulated to be a consequence of continuous exposure of the skin to toxic levels of chemicals, combined with hormonal or metabolic stress-related disturbances within the animal. Ulcerations in fish have been recognized as a worldwide phenomenon, with diverse microbial etiologies, but with some tentative association with degraded habitats.
