Histopathology in digestive gland of mussels from Galicia and Biscay Bay after the Prestige oil spill (2003-2006)

Fish and mollusc histopathology provides a useful tool in biological effect monitoring programmes through which environmental stress situations may be diagnosed on the basis of augmented prevalence or intensity of diseases and parasitic infestations. In the present study, the histopathological examination of the digestive gland of wild mussels was performed as a part of the biomonitoring programmes carried out to assess the biological effects of the Prestige oil spill. Ten mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, were collecte