Trace Elements in Tissues of Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus) Stranded in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2019 Oct;103(4):515-520. doi: 10.1007/s00128-019-02640-y. Epub 2019 May 29.

Abstract

Concentration of essential (Se, Zn and Cu) and non-essential (As, Cd, Hg and Pb) trace elements were measured in selected tissues of two dead whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) stranded in the Gulf of California (GC) in 2017 and 2018. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in the skeletal muscle of the whale shark from La Paz Bay, GC were higher compared to a previous study on whale shark from China. The shark from La Paz Bay also presented higher concentration of Pb in the epidermis, compared to the same tissue of the other whale shark stranded in Punta Bufeo, GC. The Hg in all analysed tissues was lower than those documented in carnivorous sharks. Molar ratio Se:Hg shows an excess of Se over Hg in all the tissues sampled in both sharks.

Keywords: Gulf of California; Se:Hg molar ratios; Tissue distribution; Trace elements; Whale shark.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bays / chemistry
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods*
  • Epidermis / chemistry*
  • Metals, Heavy / analysis*
  • Mexico
  • Muscle, Skeletal / chemistry*
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Sharks / metabolism*
  • Trace Elements / analysis*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

  • Metals, Heavy
  • Trace Elements
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical