Mugil cephalus as a Bioindicator of Coastal Ecosystem Health
Integrating Contaminant Bioaccumulation, Biomarkers, Multi-Stressor Toxicity, and Seafood Safety
Keywords:
Mugil cephalus, bioaccumulation, biomarkers, microplastics, multi-stressor toxicity, seafood safetyAbstract
Mugil cephalus, commonly called the flathead grey mullet, lives in rivers, estuaries, lagoons, and coastal seas, and feeds on detritus and sediment-associated matter. These habits make it one of the most widely used sentinel fish species for coastal pollution monitoring. This review brings together recent literature, mainly from 2015 to 2025, on four connected topics: contaminant bioaccumulation, biological biomarkers, multi-stressor toxicity, and seafood safety in M. cephalus. Field and laboratory studies consistently show that metals such as lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, and zinc build up more in liver, kidney, and gill tissue than in muscle, while microplastics are commonly found in the gut and gills, and sometimes in liver and muscle as well. Biomarker studies show that pollution activates oxidative stress enzymes, damages genetic material, and causes visible injury in gill and liver tissue. Recent work also shows that fish size, season, and co-occurring stressors such as parasites and microplastics can change how strongly a fish responds to contamination. Several seafood-safety studies report that edible tissue of M. cephalus can exceed international safety limits for certain metals, and that the overall risk conclusion depends heavily on which risk index is applied. This review draws these findings into one framework and identifies major gaps in the current evidence, especially the shortage of combined-stressor studies and the limited understanding of microplastic–chemical interactions.
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