title: Health status of red mullets from polluted areas of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, with special reference to Portmán (SE Spain).
abstract: A suite of general physiological indicators and hepatic biomarker responses were determined in red mullet (Mullus barbatus) from priority pollution areas of W Mediterranean Sea, including the highly metal polluted area of Portmán (Cartagena, SE Spain). Concentrations of metals and persistent organic pollutants in fish muscle tissue and sediment samples were also analysed. Our results showed that fish from Portmán accumulated the highest concentrations of mercury, lead and arsenic and also of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls congeners. In addition, they had significantly lower condition factor, muscle lipid content and gonadosomatic index, as well as the lowest levels of DNA integrity and the highest ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in liver of the areas investigated. Contaminant body burden in fish only partly corresponded to chemical characteristics of the sediments in the areas in which they were collected. Our findings indicate that red mullets from Portmán had suboptimal health status that warrant further study.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Oceanographic Centre of Murcia, Varadero 1, 30740 San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia), Spain. concepcion.martinez@mu.ieo.es
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez-Gómez
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benedicto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Campillo
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: León
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Vethaak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019363:Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D006304:Health Status; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D023701:Smegmamorpha / Q000502:physiology*; D013030:Spain; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D019363:Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1