Seasonality of nuclear abnormalities in gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata (L.) erythrocytes

The frequencies of erythrocyte nuclear abnormalities, such as irregularly shaped (ISN), vacuolated nuclei (VN), binucleated cells (BN), including micronuclei (MN), were monitored in the peripheral blood of cultured gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) from the southern Adriatic Sea (Croatia) and assessed for a relation to seasonality. Fish were sampled in February, April, June, and September. The lowest frequencies of ISN and MN were measured in April, and the lowest frequencies of VN and BN were found in February. The highest values of ISN and BN were detected in September. The highest values of MN and the most frequent occurrence of VN occurred in June and April, respectively. The Spearman rank order correlation test revealed a significant positive correlation between the frequencies of ISN, BN and MN; VN did not correlate with any of the measured parameters. The ISN had significantly higher nuclear surface area values than normal nuclei (P < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that the measured parameters displayed a distinct seasonality. Consequently, we conclude that seasonal variations should be taken into account when nuclear abnormalities are used as biomarkers. This variation should be well understood in order to successfully separate true contamination effects from seasonal factors that have the potential to affect the frequency and occurrence of nuclear abnormalities.