info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Linking cadmium and mercury accumulation to nutritional intake in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from Patagonia, Argentina
Fecha
2020-08Registro en:
Machovsky-capuska, Gabriel; von Haeften, Gabriela; Romero, Maria Alejandra; Rodríguez, Diego Hernán; Gerpe, Marcela Silvia; Linking cadmium and mercury accumulation to nutritional intake in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from Patagonia, Argentina; Elsevier; Environmental Pollution; 263; 8-2020
0269-7491
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Machovsky-capuska, Gabriel
von Haeften, Gabriela
Romero, Maria Alejandra
Rodríguez, Diego Hernán
Gerpe, Marcela Silvia
Resumen
Bioaccumulation of Hg and Cd from food is a complex ecological process that has been oversimplified in the past. Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) provide a powerful model to biomonitor metal concentrations in marine environments worldwide. We combined proportions-based nutritional geometry with metal analysis, stomach content analysis and the proximate composition of prey, to yield novel insights into the accumulation of Hg and Cd. Our analysis showed an age-related accumulation trend for Cd and Hg in kidney and liver, with highest concentrations found at 18 years of age. When view through the lens of nutritional ecology, Argentine anchovy (58.1 Mass %) and South American long-finned squid (22.7 Mass %), provided most of the dietary intake of protein (P) and lipids (L) (P:L ratio = 2.6:1.0) and also represented the main source for Cd and Hg levels accumulated in their bodies. This study presents unprecedented evidence on metal accumulation in relation to age and nutritional intake in a marine predator.