Heavy metals in fish from the Barents Sea in (summer 1994)

To assess the significance of metals in biota of the Barents Sea, prelimina ry information is presented for the concentrations of Cd, Pb, Hg, Ni, Cu an d Zn in liver and muscle tissues of 15 marine fish species collected in the summer of 1994. Lead and Ni concentrations are below limits of detection ( < 0.3 and 1.0 mg kg(-1) dry wt.) in all tissues, as is Cd in muscle (< 0.10 mg kg(-1)). Generally, most of our results are within the reported literat ure range for various Arctic marine systems, especially regarding some comm ercially important species like cod and redfish, indicating that metal leve ls are not elevated. However, the interspecific variability is substantial and some remarkably high Cd levels (2.4 and 8.1 mg kg(-1) dry wt.) in liver s of Anarhichas species (catfish) and Raja fyllae (round skate) point to th e problem of a general 'cadmium-anomaly' in polar marine waters, previously inferred from reported results for various pelagic and benthic invertebrat es. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. AU rights reserved.