COMPARISON OF TRACE ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN TISSUES OF THE CHICK AND ADULT ADELIE PENGUINS (17th Symposium on Polar Biology)

• Main Authors: ヤマモト ヨシカズ, カネサキ サトコ, クラモチ トシアキ, ミヤザキ ノブユキ, ワタヌキ ユタカ, ナイトウ ヤスヒコ, Yoshikazu YAMAMOTO, Satoko KANESAKI, Toshiaki KURAMOCHI, Nobuyuki MIYAZAKI, Yutaka WATANUKI, Yasuhiko NAITO
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Proceeding 1996
• Subjects: Antarctic; Cape Hinode; Antarc*; Euphausia superba; Polar Biology; Proceedings of the NIPR Symposium on Polar Biology; Pygoscelis adeliae
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=5319; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00005319/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=5319&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

To improve knowledge of heavy metals accumulated in Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, Hg, Pb, Se, Mn and Fe were measured in livers, kidneys, muscles, skin and feathers collected from 12 chicks and 11 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 of adult penguins were also analyzed. Higher concentrations of heavy metals were found in the liver and kidney than in other tissues. The average trace element concentrations of adult penguins were in the order Fe(635 μg/g wet)>Zn(29.3)>Cu(6.4)>Mn(2.1)>Cd(1.9)>Se(1.4)>Pb(0.31)>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 concentrations in the liver, kidney, muscle and skin of Adelie penguins increased with growth; this fact suggests that Cd and Hg were accumulated in the body through food. The Fe concentrations of adults were significantly higher in both pectoral and femoral muscles than those of the chicks (t-test, p<0.01). This might be related to the excellent diving ability of the adult penguin. The conversion ratios of Hg concentrations between feather, liver and pectoral muscle of the adults were calculated at 3:5:1. A comparison of heavy metals of adult Adelie penguins captured in 1981 and those in 1991 indicates that both Hg and Pb concentrations in liver, kidney, muscles and skin of the 1991 samples were obviously higher than those of the 1981 samples.