Implications of biological factors on accumulation of persistent organic pollutants in two Antarctic notothenioid fish

BELÉN LANA; ESTEBAN BARRERA-ORO; JUAN MANUEL RÍOS; ADRIAN COVACI; JORGELINA ALTAMIRANO; NESTOR CIOCCO; EUGENIA MOREIRAS

York

Congreso; 8th International Symposium on Flame Retardants; 2017

The perciform suborder Notothenioidei is the dominant group of the Antarctic ichthyofauna in terms of diversity, abundance and biomass, containing 97% of endemic species (1). Notothenioid fish have developed a variety of feeding behaviors on a wide range of preys such as krill, fish and a diversity of planktonic organisms (1). The Antarctic Nototheniids, Notothenia rossii (NOR) and Trematomus newnesi (TRN) are typical representatives of the western Antarctic Peninsula ichthyofauna. Both species have similar ecological habits in the fjords, living commonly in shallow inshore waters on rocky bottoms with macroalgae beds, to offshore shelf waters. Research focused on the analysis of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Antarctic fish, shows that this global theme is gaining concern in recent years (2). However, it is still unclear which biological variables are associated with levels of PBDEs in Antarctic fish. Biological factors, like body size, body condition, tissue type, and lipids content are related to PBDEs accumulation in other fish species (3). In the present study, we analyzed NOR and TRN specimens with the aim of determine whether there are biological factors associated with PBDEs accumulation capability. It was expected that both exploratory methods will provide information on which biological factor is key when choosing notothenioid fish species as sentinels for POPs pollution in Antarctic marine environments.