title: First evidence of persistent organic contaminants as potential anthropogenic stressors in the Barndoor Skate Dipturus laevis.
abstract: Although exploited populations of elasmobranchs may be able to recover from fishing pressure, there is little information regarding the Barndoor Skate's ability to cope with other anthropogenic stressors such as organic contaminants (OCs). Legacy OCs were measured in liver, muscle and ova from fourteen Barndoor Skates with mature skates having significantly greater mean concentrations of OCs than immature skates, demonstrating bioaccumulation with age. Using Toxic Equivalency Factors, skates were found to have levels of PCBs that have been shown to elicit negative physiological responses in other fishes and these results highlight the need for future studies to investigate the potential impacts that bioaccumulated organic contaminants have on the recovery and conservation of this vulnerable species.
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB, Canada. Electronic address: kady.lyons@sbcglobal.net.
authors.forename: Kady
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.affiliation: Cape Canaveral Scientific Inc, 220 Surf Rd, Melbourne Beach, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D012860:Skates, Fish; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Elasmobranch; Marine fisheries; Organic contaminants; Threatened species