Distribution and accumulation of rotenone in tissues of warmwater fishes
Rach, J.J.; Gingerich, W.H.
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 115(2): 214-219
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-8487 DOI: 10.1577/1548-8659(1986)115<214:daaori>2.0.co;2
Accession: 005174338
The tissue distribution of rotenoid residues was determined in tissues of common carp Cyprinus carpio (88.2 g), bluegills Lepomis macrochirus (47.9 g), and yellow perch Perca flavescens (67.7 g) after the fish were exposed to 50 .mu.g/l of rotenone-6a-14C (15.9 .times. 104 Bq/.mu.M). Exposures were terminated 1 h after fish were moribund and failed to respond to gentile prodding. The fish were dissected, and various tissues were oxidized to determine 14C-rotenone accumulation and distribution. Major rotenone metabolites were identified by gradient-elution high performance liquid chromatography. The exposure time required for fish to reach total incapacitation was 3 h for bluegills and yellow perch, and 11.25 h for common carp. The mean rotenoid concentrations (.mu.g/100 g fish) in the whole body were 22.4 in yellow perch, 39.7 in bluegills, and 107.8 in common carp. The percentage of rotenone-derived 14C activity was higher in the carcass components than in the head or viscera; the skin and bone contained about 60% of the carcass activity. The highest relative rotenoid concentrations were found in the liver, bile, gills, brain, and heart. Percentages of total rotenoid material as parent rotenone were highest in yellow perch (70.0 in the viscera and 84.4 in the fillet), followed by those for bluegills (22.7 and 27.8) and common carp (9.7 and 48.5).