Histological damage at gonad of Faunus ater (gastropod mollusk) obtained from heavy metal contaminated river

Abstract

The cause of the histological damage of Faunus ater (gastropod mollusk) gonad has been identified in the samples from two rivers, namely Bale River and Reuleng River which flow through residential, agricultural and industrial areas. The heavy metal concentration within the tissue of Faunus ater was analyzed with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Shimadzu AA 630). Meanwhile, the histological damage on gonads was observed microscopically. Afterwards, the damage levels obtained from the two respective rivers were compared and analyzed with t-test. The results confirm the histological damage that occurred in the gonads of Faunus ater collected from the two rivers. The gonadal damage of female Faunus ater from both rivers was found not to be significantly different, observed by the number of developed and damaged oocytes. It was also found that the gonads of male Faunus ater collected from Bale Riverl, have higher quantity of spermatogenic cells, in which they experience greater necrosis than the ones from Reuleng River.