title: A comparative study of accumulated total mercury among white muscle, red muscle and liver tissues of common carp and silver carp from the Sanandaj Gheshlagh Reservoir in Iran.
abstract: The Sanandaj Gheshlagh Reservoir (SGR) is a mercury polluted lake that is located in the West of Iran. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) are the most abundant fishes in the SGR. A total of 48 common and silver carps (24 each) were captured randomly, using 50×6 m gill net (mesh size: 5×5 cm) during July to December 2009. Each month, the levels of accumulated total mercury (T-Hg) in white muscle, red muscle and liver tissues of these fishes were measured using an Advanced Mercury Analyzer (Model; Leco 254 AMA, USA) on the dry weight basis. There were no statistically significant differences between T-Hg concentrations in white muscle, red muscle and liver in common carp in comparison with similar tissues in silver carp (P>0.05). The content of T-Hg in liver tissue of both species was lower than of white and red muscle tissues. Higher levels of accumulated T-Hg were observed during summer. Results showed that T-Hg concentrations in common and silver carps target tissues were strongly dependent on age, length and weight (P<0.05). The results indicated that the levels of accumulated T-Hg in tissues of all samples with weights of over 850 g were greater than those limits established by WHO and FAO (500 ng g(-1)).
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Sarayan Agriculture Faculty, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran. mehdi.khoshnam@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khoshnamvand
authors.forename: Shahram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaboodvandpour
authors.forename: Farzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghiasi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002347:Carps / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury