Total Mercury Levels in Selected Tissues of Some Marine Crustaceans from Persian Gulf, Iran: Variations Related to Length, Weight and Sex

Abstract

Much of the variation in trace metal tissue concentrations in marine invertebrates has been attributed to the variety in individual organism size, age and sex. This study assessed the relationship between total mercury (Hg) concentrations in edible tissue, exoskeleton and viscera with length, weight and gender for 69 samples of crustaceans, Penaeus semisulcatus (n = 30), Thenus orientalis (n = 21) and Portunus pelagicus (n = 18) from the northern part of the Persian Gulf. Significant increase in the Hg level in muscle and viscera (r > 0.65, p < 0.01) with an increase in length and weight for all three species. No relationship was found between the Hg level in exoskeleton and length or weight. Significantly higher Hg levels (p < 0.01) were found in female P. semisulcatus than in males (muscle and viscera), but no gender differences were found for the other two species.

Heavy Metals Bioaccumulation in Tissues of Spiny-Cheek Crayfish (Orconectes limosus) from Lake Gopło: Effect of Age and Sex

“…Similar results were observed by Protasowicki et al (2013). Moreover, there were significant differences between 3-year-old and 4-year-old males in the muscle tissue ( p  = 0.000) (Table 4), that were similar to the results of Chouvelon et al (2009) and Elahi et al (2012). EU directive (EU regulation, 2011) indicates that the maximum levels of Hg in the muscle of crayfish should not exceed 0.5 mg kg −1 wet weight.…”

“…Our analyses of spiny-cheek crayfish indicated a higher concentration of Hg was detected in the muscle (Table 4) but gender dependent differences were only observed for exoskeleton tissues (Table 5). Elahi et al (2012) indicated that Hg concentrations in the muscle were significantly higher in female of prawns ( Penaeus semisulcatus De Haan, 1844) (0.22 mg kg −1 ) than males (0.15 mg kg −1 ) and gender dependent differences in Hg content may be due to differences in diet and habitat. There were no statistically significant differences between sexes for other metals as opposite to Canli and Furness (1993) who determined that levels of several metals in various tissues differed between the sexes of the Norway Lobster ( Nephrops norvegicus , Linnaeus, 1758) and to Naghshbandi et al (2007) who confirmed differences in Zn and Cu content in the muscle between sexes for mud crayfish.…”

Determination of mercury and vanadium concentration in Johnius belangerii (C) fish in Musa estuary in Persian Gulf

“…The Persian Gulf is a shallow basin area spanning 240,000 km 2 with an average depth of 35-40 m (Mortazavi and Sharifian, 2011b), located to the south of Iran (Elahi et al, 2012). It joins free international waters via the Hormuz Strait.…”

“…On the other hand, large and old fishes may exhibit a higher bioaccumulation of mercury as they may be exposed to pollution sources longer than small and young fishes are. It is indicated that usually the length is used as an alternate factor for age (Elahi et al, 2012). Moreover, many factors are involved in the relationship between metal concentration and length.…”

Mercury bioaccumulation and the population dynamics of Mesopodopsis slabberi (Crustacea: Mysidacea) along a mercury contamination gradient

“…In addition, gender differences in the Hg tissue concentrations have also been reported in some fish and invertebrate species. Other explanations for the differences in accumulation between the genders have been mainly attributed to differences in diet, or due to differences in habitat (Elahi et al 2012 and references therein). Our results are in agreement with those of Bu-Olayan et al (1998), who investigated the relationship between Hg level with total length, total weight and sex in Thenus orientalis (decapod) from the Persian Gulf.…”