Trace metals in vertebral columns of deep-sea teleost fish

Deep-sea teleost fish were collected from the Sagami Bay near a deep fissur e in the Pacific Ocean. Fish were identified as Chlorophthalmis albatrosis, Engyprosopan xystrias, Satyrichthys hians, Ventrifossa garmani, and Halieu taea stellata. The Etmopterus lucifer is not a teleost, but a deepsea shark . Just after being caught and fixed in neutral 20% formol, the vertebral co lumn was resected and prepared for measurement by inductively coupled plasm a-atomic emission spectrometry. Trace elements were found to be Al, Si, Ti, Fe, Cu, Cd, Zn, and Hg at micro grams per gram levels. Major elements were Mg, Ca, P, and S at the milligra m per gram level. Some of trace elements, Zn and Hg, were also usually foun d at this level.