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Reproductive status and lipid content as factors in PCB, DDT and HCH contamination of a population of pike ( Esox lucius L.)
Author(s) -
Larsson Per,
Okla Lennart,
Collvin Lars
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620120509
Subject(s) - esox , pike , pollutant , blubber , population , biology , environmental chemistry , persistent organic pollutant , zoology , chemistry , ecology , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology
Levels of persistent pollutants, including PCBs, ΣDDT, and γ‐hexachlorocyclohexane, were examined in a pike population inhabiting a eutrophic lake in southern Scandinavia. For females, levels of persistent pollutants decreased linearly with age, weight, or length. This decline was ascribed to the seasonal elimination of the lipophilic pollutants in roe, which contained up to 10 times higher fat levels compared to muscle and over 10 times the amounts of pollutants. Male pike contained higher levels of pollutants than females, probably due to the lower elimination via gonadal products, as germinal tissue constitutes only 2% of the male total body weight and has a lower fat content than ovaries. Female germinal tissue can account for as much as 15% of the body weight. No major fat deposits other than those in germinal tissue were found in pike, which also had a low muscle fat content, suggesting that the importance of roe elimination in removing pollutants may be greater in pike than in salmonids. Uptake of persistent pollutants can vary greatly within a species, owing to differences in sex, age, and so forth, as well as between species, owing to differences in fat deposition strategies.