Response of olfactory receptors and blood cells of Lake Baikal fish to phenol exposure

Exposure to phenol causes ultrastructural disorders in supporting and receptor cells in the peripheral segment of the olfactory organ of yellowfin (Cottocomephorus grewingkii) and in cells in peripheral blood of stone sculpins (Paracottus knerii), yellowfin and perch (Perca fluviatilis). Identical responses to phenol exposure in the blood cells were observed in endemic Lake Baikal fish and in nonendemic fish. Differences were found only in the rate and intensity of the recovery response. Fast activation of immune processes were found in the coastal nonendemic perch, but they were slow in the stone sculpin, a coastal endemic species.