The croaker (Nibea mitsukurii) and the sea catfish (Plotosus anguillaris) may be considered as useful biomakers of the coastal pollution

In 1973, the authors reported that the skin tumor, chromatophoroma, of the croaker was found in the Pacific coast of Japan. The incidence of the fish disease showed unique geographic distribution. At station A in which the highest incidence of tumor-bearing croaker was observed, the skin pigment cell hyperplasia of the catfish was also found. From the epidemiological and epizootiological results, chemical etiology may be a potent hypothesis for the occurrence of these fish diseases. In the present paper, they report the possibility of both fish species as biomarkers in the aquatic environment which is contaminated with chemical substances.