title: Relation Between Age and Heavy Metal Content in the Otoliths ofPomadasys stridens Forskal 1775 Collected from the Arabian Gulf
abstract: A total of 216 otolith samples (89 male, 127 female) fromPomadasys stridens (Forskal 1775), a common fish of the ArabianGulf, were analyzed for the concentrations of heavy metals. Standard length,age, sex, body, and otolith weight were recorded for each fish. Otolithweight from male fish was found in the range of 0.047-0.143 g with a meanvalue 0.101 +/- 0.023 g, whereas, mean otolith weight from female fishsamples was 0.111 +/- 0.019 in the range of 0.062-0.151 g. Averageconcentration of zinc, copper, manganese, nickel, cadmium and lead was found0.965, 0.229, 0.195, 0.122, 0.100, and 0.119 μg per otolith in case of malefish and in females it was 1.371, 0.241, 0.297, 0.133, 0.089, and 0.123 μgper otolith, respectively. At the age of two to three years, concentrationsof all the analyzed elements, except for Cd, were found higher in otoliths offemale fish samples, but at the age of four years this difference becomesminimum and mostly opposite, i.e., otoliths of male fish have littlehigher concentrations as compared to otoliths from females. The concentrationvariation of different elements was different in males and in females, butwas not statistically significant. The otolith weight at the age two yearswas significantly different with other age group samples and among bothsexes.
authors.affiliation: Desert and Marine Environment Research Center, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 17777, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Al-Ghais