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Abstract In an environmental perspective, Mariut lagoon represents a clear-cut example of the continuous and often irretrievable regression of natural habitats because of human trespassing. The sewage wastes from the southern region of Alexandria are dumped into Lake Mariut proper. This water body is also under stress from different untreated industrial effluents and contaminated agricultural runoff. The untreated industrial and sewage wastes increased the heavy metals in the water and sediments of Lake Mariut. Therefore, the aim of the present work is to study the effect of heavy metal pollution on gonad status, in an attempt to develop new and more sensitive biomarkers to evaluate pollutant effects on the reproductive performance of a sentinel organism (e.g., fish) thereby detecting secondary effects at the population and community level. |