Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bastos, Wanderley R.
• Dórea, José G.
• Bernardi, José Vicente E
• Lauthartte, Leidiane C.
• Mussy, Marilia H.
• Hauser, Marília
• Dória, Carolina Rodrigues da C.
• Malm, Olaf

Titel

Mercury in muscle and brain of catfish from the Madeira river, Amazon, Brazil

Ist Teil von

• Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 2015-08, Vol.118, p.90-97

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The central nervous system is a critical target for Hg toxicity in all living organisms. Total Hg (THg) was determined in brain and muscle samples of 165 specimens of eight species of catfish (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum; Brachyplatystoma platynemum; Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii; Brachyplatystoma vaillantii; Phractocephalus hemiliopterus; Pseudoplatystoma punctifer; Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum; Zungaro zungaro) from the Madeira River, Brazilian Amazon. Despite the narrow range of Fishbase trophic level (4.2–4.6) the median THg concentrations ranged from 0.39 to 1.99mg/kg and from 0.03 to 0.29mg/kg respectively in muscle and brain from the studied species. Overall, the median concentration for all samples analyzed was 0.93mg/kg and 0.16mg/kg respectively in muscle and brain; most samples (76%) showed muscle Hg concentrations >0.5mg/kg. There were statistically significant THg differences between sex (female>males). The correlation between THg concentrations in muscle and brain was statistically significant (r=0.9170; p<0.0001). In the studied specimens, fish total length was significantly correlated with muscle (r=0.3163; p=0.0001) and brain (r=0.3039; p=0.0003) THg; however, fish age was negatively and significantly correlated (r=−0.2991; p=0.0012) with THg in muscle but not with THg in brain (r=−0.0190; p=0.8492). Amazonian catfish accumulate high levels of Hg in muscle and brain; however, brain-THg concentrations can be predicted from muscle-THg. Muscle-Hg in catfish can be a tool to detect brain-Hg concentrations associated with environmental Hg. •This paper addresses Hg chemical forms in the muscle and brain tissues of catfish from the Amazon Basin.•Brain-Hg levels can be predicted from muscle-Hg concentrations.•Intra- and inter-species variability in THg and MeHg are discussed as a function of fish size, sex, and age.