Implications of biological factors on accumulation of PBDEs in two Antarctic Notothenioid fish.

ADRIAN COVACI; EUGENIA MOREIRA; NERINA B. LANA; ESTEBAN BARRERA ORO; JUAN MANUEL RIOS; NÉSTOR F. CIOCCO; JORGELINA C. ALTAMIRANO

York

Congreso; 8TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON FLAME RETARDANTS -BFR 2017; 2017

The perciformsuborder Notothenioidei is the dominant group of the Antarctic ichthyofauna interms of diversity, abundance and biomass, containing 97%of endemic species. Notothenioid fish have developed a variety of feeding behaviors on awide range of preys such as krill, fish and a diversity of planktonic organisms. The Antarctic Nototheniids, Nototheniarossii(NOR) and Trematomusnewnesi (TRN) aretypical representatives of the western Antarctic Peninsula ichthyofauna. Bothspecies have similar ecological habits in the fjords, living commonly in shallowinshore waters on rocky bottoms with macroalgae beds, to offshore shelf waters.Research focused on the analysis of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) inAntarctic fish, shows that this global theme is gaining concern in recent years. However, it is still unclear which biological variables are associatedwith levels of PBDEs in Antarctic fish. Biological factors, like body size, bodycondition, tissue type, and lipids content are related to PBDEs accumulation inotherfish species. In the presentstudy, we analyzed NOR and TRN specimens with the aim of determine whetherthere are biological factors associated with PBDEs accumulation capability. It was expected that both exploratory methods will provide informationon which biological factor is key when choosing notothenioid fish species as sentinels for POPs pollutionin Antarctic marine environments.