Coastal areas are prone to varying degrees of anthropogenic chemical contamination. In many coastal environments experiencing reducing conditions in the water column, nitrite is produced as a result of denitrification. With a view to determining the effect of a natural stress such as the presence of nitrite in water on the xenobiotic metabolism in fish, the euryhaline cichlid Oreochromis mossambicus was exposed for up to 9 days to environmentally relevant concentrations of water-borne nitrite and phenanthrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Analyses of different biomarkers in the treated fish indicated significant increase in the metabolism of phenanthrene as a result of exposure to nitrite. For example, the activity of the biotransformation enzyme measured, as 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethlase activity was, in the presence of 1 mu M nitrite, nearly twice that produced by phenanthrene alone. Similarly, biliary fixed fluorescence values reflecting phenanthrene and its metabolites were rendered 1.7 times higher when exposed simultaneously to nitrite. Contact with nitrite and phenanthrene together also led to severe hepatic damage with possible cell death as inferred from the large enhancement in sorbitol dehydrogenase activity in the serum and reduced liver somatic index