Abstract:
A Sawback angel shark (Squatina aculeata) classified as “Critically Endangered” Global Red List by the IUCN (2017) and CITES (2017) is one of the threated elasmobranch groups and the increased pollution in the marine environment negatively impact angel shark species. Despite this, limited information exists about the effects of toxic chemical contamination in angel sharks. Therefore, present study was conducted to elucidate heavy metal accumulation in Squatina aculeata captured from the Iskenderun Bay, North-Eastern Mediterranean by electrochemical technique. Arsenic (As), Mercury (Hg), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn) and Mangan (Mn) were found by electrochemical analyzer. Among the gill and liver tissue samples of S. aculeata, Fe and Zn were detected as highest concentrations followed by As, Hg, Mn and Cu; Among the muscle tissue of S. aculeata, Fe and Zn were detected as highest followed by Hg, As, Mn and Cu. Average total arsenic contents in S. aculeata was 7.5416±0.6548 µg g-1, which exceeded maximum limit legalized for any kind of food. Similarly, Total mercury average content in S. aculeata was 19.9942±1.6116 µg g -1, which exceeded the proposed limit value which is 0.2-2 µg g-1, confirming that the consumption of S. aculeata is a high risk threating the health of consumer. These results confirmed that the metal contamination in North-Eastern Mediterranean area may pose a potential threat to the sustainability of S. aculeata in marine ecosystem and the concentrations detected is the above the safety limits for angel shark that should be taken into consideration regarding human consumption.
Page(s):
97-108
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Volume: 30, Issue: 2, Year: 2021
Keywords:
metals
,
Bioaccumulation
,
northeastern Mediterranean
,
sawback angel shark
,
Squatina aculeata