Effects of Water-Borne Copper on Ultrastructure of Gill and Hepatopancreas in Eriocheir Sinensis

Effects of water-borne copper (5.00 mg/l) on ultrastructure of the gills and hepatopancreas in Eriocheir sinensis were studied here. Result indicated that water-borne copper could cause a series of damages to cell structure of gills and hepatopancreas of crabs. Significant changes in ultrastructure of gills were found in the group exposed to 5.00 mg/l Cu²⁺compared with that of the control group showing as damaged epethelia, inhomogeneously distributed cutin electron density, uncompleted cells, combined basement membranes and cutin and great vacuoles formed between them. Meanwhile, other pathological changes on nuclear membrane, karyoplasms, mitochondrion and mitochondrial cristae and matrix were observed in the 5.00 mg/l copper treated group. In addition,infolded basement membrane, circularized nucleus, and decreased even disappeared microville were also identified in the ultrastructure of gills. Some hemocytes were heterochromained, and nucleuses were deformed. Similarly, obvious changes in ultrastructure of the hepatopancreas were found in the group treated with 5.00 mg/l Cu²⁺ compared with that of the control group. Epithelia were deformed, nucleus circularized, the nuclear membrane disintegrated karyoplasms heterochromained. Cytoplasm thinned, organelle decreased, epithelia showed swelling and deforming, the basement membrane were rumpled, vacuoles formed between the basement membrane and columnar epithelium, mitochondrial cristae partly disappeared, the microvilli showed partly falling.