Heavy Metal Concentrations in the Muscle Tissue of 12 Species of Teleost from Cockburn Sound, Western Australia

Abstract

The wet and dry weight concentrations of Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cr and Co have been measured in muscle tissue taken from 12 species of teleost caught in Cockburn Sound. The maximum concentration of each of the metals found in the fish was well below the values given in the National Health and Medical Research Council Standards and the Western Australian Food and Drug Regulations. Considering the rate at which metals are known to be discharged into the Sound the low concentrations found in fish flesh contrast with the appreciable rate at which metals are discharged and accumulate in certain regions of the Sound. Furthermore, the metal concentrations in fish flesh are many times lower than in invertebrates such as the mussel, Mytilus edulis. It is suggested that the low levels in fish flesh reflect both the relatively low rate at which heavy metals are accumulated by teleost muscle and also the movement pattern of fish within the polluted and relatively unpolluted regions of the Sound, and between the Sound and the Indian Ocean.