Short communication, Note

Trace metals in tissues of Galeus melastomus (Rafinesque, 1810) from the northern Tyrrhenian Sea (NW Mediterranean)

Andrea GAION ; South Devon College, Long Road TQ4 7EJ Paignton, United Kingdom
Alice SCUDERI ; Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Piazzale dei Marmi 12, 57123 Livorno, Italy
Davide SARTORI ; Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Piazzale dei Marmi 12, 57123 Livorno, Italy
David PELLEGRINI ; Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Piazzale dei Marmi 12, 57123 Livorno, Italy
Alessandro LIGAS ; Centro Interuniversitario di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Applicata, Viale N. Sauro 4, 57128 Livorno, Italy

Abstract

In the last decades, the decline of coastal waters resources has forced fisheries to expand into deeper waters. However, while the increase of industrial activities make it essential to find biological models that can explain pollutants dynamics, little is still known about pollutants distribution, dynamics, and their possible effects on deep-water organisms. In this context, new information on the concentrations of trace metals (Arsenic, As; Cadmium, Cd; Copper, Cu; Mercury, Hg; Lead, Pb) in muscle, liver and gonads of blackmouth catshark, Galeus melastomus, from north-western
Mediterranean (northern Tyrrhenian Sea) are presented. Significant differences between males and females were found in the concentrations of three of the five trace elements in gonads. Lower concentrations of trace metals were found in the ovaries, and this could be due to the almost continuous vitellogenic activity which could transfer contaminants to developing oocytes.

Keywords

trace elements; deep waters; Galeus melastomus; Tyrrhenian Sea

Hrčak ID:

162304

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/162304

Publication date:

28.6.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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