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Cadmium and copper contents in a freshwater fish species (brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis) from the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands

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Abstract

The subantarctic Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 70°E) contain freshwaters among the most isolated in the world from direct human activities. Cadmium and copper concentrations were analyzed in muscle and liver tissues of 57 non-migratory brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) inhabiting the Sud River of Kerguelen Islands. The mean cadmium concentration in liver was 1.13 μg/g dry wt, within the range of levels measured in liver of marine fish from the Southern Ocean. Muscular Cd levels (0.12 μg/g dry wt) were roughly ten times higher than those measured in Kerguelen’s marine fish species. Copper levels were very high in the two organs (62.27 μg/g dry wt in liver and 3.02 μg/g dry wt in muscle) compared to those detected in fish from the Southern Ocean. Regarding the seasonal trend, the highest Cu and Cd muscular levels were measured in fish at the end of the austral winter, whereas the highest hepatic levels were observed at the end of the austral summer. Moreover, hepatic cadmium levels were higher in females than in males. These results could be related to brook trout spawning physiological preparations and foraging behavior during the summer period. We provide here the first results about Cu and Cd levels in liver and muscle of a freshwater fish species in an insular subantarctic context. They are in agreement with the high cadmium contamination found in fish of the Southern Ocean.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was financially supported by the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor (IMMUNOTOXKER program 409) and by the French National Research Agency (ANR—RISKER Program). We thank the French Polar Institute for its logistic support in Kerguelen Islands and the French Austral and Antarctic Territories Administration and the staff of the 55th mission in Kerguelen for their help in the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, EA 2069 Vignes et Vins de Champagne-Stress et Environnement, Laboratoire d’Eco-Toxicologie, 51687, Reims, Cedex 2, France

    A. Jaffal, S. Paris-Palacios, L. Delahaut, S. Biagianti-Risbourg & S. Betoulle

  2. ESE, UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, 91405, Orsay, France

    H. Roche

  3. ECOBIOP, UMR 1224 INRA-Université de Pau-Pays de l’Adour, 64310, St-Pée-sur-Nivelle, France

    E. Beall

  4. IPEV Institut Polaire Français, 29280, Plouzané, France

    A. F. Thailly

  5. Institut National de l’Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Unité d’Eco-toxicologie in vitro et in vivo, BP2, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France

    S. Jolly

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  1. A. Jaffal
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Jaffal, A., Paris-Palacios, S., Jolly, S. et al. Cadmium and copper contents in a freshwater fish species (brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis) from the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands. Polar Biol 34, 397–409 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0895-8

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