Potential Usage of Pufferfish Dentin as a Metal Accumulation Indicator

Abstract

The pufferfish are non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean Sea that do not have predators in the food chain. Therefore, the determination of heavy metal accumulation in pufferfish species can be considered as natural chelation for the aquatic environment. The present study, the potential usage of dentin tissue as an indicator of heavy metal bioaccumulation was examined in pufferfish species. The accumulation of Co, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mo, Ni, Se, Al, Cd, Pb, As, Cr in dentin, liver, kidney and muscle tissues of four pufferfish species (Lagocephalus sceleratus, Lagocephalus spadiceus, Lagocephalus suezensis, and Torquigener flavimaculosus) were captured in the Goksu River and Yesjlovacik coasts of Turkey by a commercial trawler. The different bioaccumulation levels were found in each species in terms of metals concentrations and tissues. The metal levels in dentine tissue were found to be similar to the brain. Aluminium had the highest accumulation among these tissues. The liver and gill tissues showed the same bioaccumulation properties with each other. Zn had the highest accumulation among these tissues (P < 0.05). The muscle was different from metabolically active tissues in terms of metal accumulation that arsenic had the highest bioaccumulation (P < 0.05). Fe, Se, As, Zn, Cu, Cr and Al were accumulated in all tissue types, however, only Se was not detected in dentin tissue. On the other hand, Co, Ni, Mo, Cd and Pb were not detected in any tissue types. The relative accumulation of metals in dentin tissue was determined as Al > Zn > Cr > Fe > As > Cu. The present study for the first time revealed that dentin tissue can be used as an indicator tissue for toxicology studies that metal accumulations in dentin were determined in parallel with other examined tissues of pufferfish species.