COMPARISON O F TRACE ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN TISSUES O F THE CHICK AND ADULT ADELIE PENGUINS

• Main Authors: Yoshikazu Yamamoto, Satoko Kanesaki, Toshiaki Kuramochi, Nobuyuki Miyazaki, Yutaka Watanuki, Yasuhiko Naito
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Cape Hinode; Antarc*; Euphausia superba
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.520.7960; http://polaris.nipr.ac.jp/~penguin/polarbiosci/issues/pdf/1996-Yamamoto.pdf

measured in livers, kidneys, muscles, skin and feathers collected from 12 chicks and 1 1 adult penguins which were captured at breeding sites at Cape Hinode and in Hukuro Cove during the chick-rearing period, from 1 January to 9 February, 1991. Antarctic krills (Euphausia superba) collected from the stomach content o f adult penguins were also analyzed. Higher concentrations o f heavy metals were found in the liver and kidney than in other tissues. The average trace element concentrations o f adult penguins were in the order Fe(635 pg/g wet)>Zn(29.3)>Cu(6.4)>Mn(2.1)>Cd(1.9)>Se(1.4)> Pb(0.3 1) > Hg(0.18) for the liver, and Fe(280)>Zn(29.8)>Cd (14.7)>Cu(3.5)> Se(2.7)> Mn(1.2)> Hg(0.16)> Pb(0.13) for the kidney. Cadmium and Hg con-centrations in the liver, kidney, muscle and skin o f Adklie penguins increased with growth; this fact suggests that Cd and Hg were accumulated in the body through food. The Fe concentrations o f adults were significantly higher in both pectoral and femoral muscles than those o f the chicks (t-test, p<O.Ol). This might be related to the excellent diving ability o f the adult penguin. The conversion ratios o f Hg