Recent studies have confirmed historic atmospheric deposition of uranium in Antarctica, with a steep and significant increase in levels deposited since the 1980s in Antarctic Peninsula ice core samples. To date, however, there has been little or no attention paid to uranium in the Antarctic food web. Here, we present results for uranium content in scales of three common nototheniid species (Trematomus bernacchii, Gobionotothen gibberifrons, Notothenia coriiceps) from coastal waters off James Ross Island (Antarctic Peninsula). While mean total uranium levels (mean ± SD) were low and similar between species (N. coriiceps 0.08 μg g-1 ± 0.01, T. bernacchii 0.17 μg g-1 ± 0.10; G. gibberifrons 0.11 μg g-1 ± 0.04), linear regressions against standard length indicated bioaccumulation in T. bernacchii (ANOVA, F = 7.8349, P = 0.0076). We suggest this may be the result of dietary specialisation on prey with calcareous shells that accumulate uranium. To the best of our knowledge, this paper provides the first quantitative baseline data on uranium levels in coastal Antarctic nototheniids. While the low levels recorded are unlikely to represent a threat within the food chain, we suggest that further long-term trophic studies (including stable isotope analysis) are needed, recognising that the feeding ecology of individual species (and even individuals) can have a strong effect on overall trends.

Czech Collection of Microorganisms Masaryk University Faculty of Science Kamenice 5 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences v v i Květná 8 603 65 Brno Czech Republic

Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kamenice 5 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org