Trophic transfer of POPs in plankton and small pelagic fish in the western Mediterranean and Adriatic sea

Jacek Tronczynski (1) , Francois Carlotti (2) , G. Kušpilić (3) , Katrin Vorkamp (4) , Jean-Francois Cadiou (5)

1 BE - Unité Biogéochimie et Ecotoxicologie
2 MIO - Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie
3 Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, IOF, Šetalište I. Meštrovica 63, 21000 Split; Croatia.
4 Aarhus University [Aarhus]
5 IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer

Transfer of persistent organic pollutants within the plankton and the short food web of small pelagic fish (anchovies and sardines) was studied in the areas of the Western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea. Spatial variations in the levels of POPs were observed. Relationships between POP concentrations and size class of plankton and plankton δ N signatures were examined. The highest concentrations of POPs were found in bacteria /nano and picoplankton and small pelagic fish. The results indicate that it is difficult to clearly distinguish prey-predator contaminant transfer in plankton. Anchovy plays a pertinent role in the transfer of contaminants to the open seas. Moreover, this study provides valuable insight for better understanding of interactions between the planktonic prey species and their predators.

Mots clés: Food webs; Bio-accumulation; Plankton; Pcb; Mediterranean Sea

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie; Océan, Atmosphère; Sciences de l'environnement

Jacek Tronczynski, Francois Carlotti, G. Kušpilić, Katrin Vorkamp, Jean-Francois Cadiou. Trophic transfer of POPs in plankton and small pelagic fish in the western Mediterranean and Adriatic sea. 41st CIESM Congress, Sep 2016, Kiel, Germany. ⟨hal-03006186⟩