Petroleum hydrocarbons are one of the primary organic chemicals found in water bodies, and the water-soluble fraction of petroleum (WSFP) may be responsible for much of the toxic effects. In the present study, genotoxicity assays and histopathological analysis of the gills were analyzed for two experimental protocols: 1) Juvenile Centropomus parallelus were exposed to different concentrations of WFSP (0%, 25%, 50% and 75%) for 96h; 2) A second fish group was exposed to 50% WFSP for 168h followed by a post-exposure period for 168h in clean water (recovery). The total benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations at time 0 were 254μgL-1 and 4.72μgL-1 in 25%; 552.9μgL-1 and 9.36μgL-1 in 50%; and 842.4μgL-1 and 9.97μgL-1 in 75% WSFP, respectively. Based on the alkaline comet assay, the damage index (DI) values of fish exposed to 25% WSFP for 96h were significantly higher than those in the control group, and in the micronucleus test, the higher damage values were found in fish exposed to 75% WSFP. Furthermore, this last genotoxic test showed recovery after 168h. At all concentrations of WSFP, several histopathological changes were observed, and overall, most of these changes observed in the gills were classified as proliferative changes and represented a protective mechanism against pollutant uptake. Based on the recovery experiment, the damage was also significantly reduced after recovery. Our results showed that short-term exposure to WSFP compounds triggered cellular alterations in C. parallelus, but total recovery did not occur with time. Additionally, the different periods of exposure were not sufficient to induce severe gill damage in C. parallelus. Moreover, this fish demonstrated its usefulness as a sentinel species.