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Arsenic compounds in tissues of the leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J.S. Edmonds
Affiliation:
Western Australian Marine Research Laboratories, PO Box 20, North Beach, WA 6020, Australia
Y. Shibata
Affiliation:
National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16–2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan
R.I.T. Prince
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation & Land Management, Wildlife Research Centre, PO Box 51, Wanneroo, WA 6065, Australia
K.A. Francesconi
Affiliation:
Western Australian Marine Research Laboratories, PO Box 20, North Beach, WA 6020, Australia
M. Morita
Affiliation:
National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16–2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan

Abstract

Examination of extracts of tissues of a leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (L.) (Reptilia: Dermochelyidae) by high-performance liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry has demonstrated the presence of arsenobetaine, arsenocholine and inorganic arsenate in heart muscle and liver, and arsenobetaine and inorganic arsenate in pectoral muscle. Although arsenobetaine was the major form in all tissues, inorganic arsenate and arsenocholine accounted for 50% and 15% respectively of arsenic in aqueous extracts of the liver.

Type
Short Communications
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1994

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