Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 97, Issue 1-2, Pages 518-522Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.019
Keywords
DDT; PCB; Habitat use; Lecithotrophic; Maternal offloading
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Pacific angel sharks (Squatina californica) are a benthic elasmobranch that occupy intermediate trophic level positions in coastal food webs. Angel sharks' life history characteristics make them susceptible to accumulating high amounts of contaminants. Four angel sharks were opportunistically captured in southern California and their liver and uterine contents were analyzed for PCBs, DDTs and other pesticides. High DDT:PCB ratios were found in the sharks indicating direct or indirect foraging near a local EPA Superfund Site. Organic contaminants were measured in ovulated eggs, indicating that females are able to maternally offload contaminants. Despite the potential mismatch between ovarian and uterine fecundity, we estimated females to offload approximately 13 +/- 5% of their total body load, which represents the upper limit of this capability. Although low in sample size, the initial findings from this study suggest that habitat use might play an important role in contaminant accumulation in this species. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available