ABSTRACT
Persistent organic pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and other brominated flame retardants, were detected in the liver, muscle, and ovary tissues of the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis) incidentally caught around Gangga Island, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, on November 5, 2014. Concentrations of total PCBs (209 congeners, 300-2600 ng g-1 lipid weight) in all tissues showed higher than those of PBDEs (41 congeners, 3.9-6.3 ng g-1 lw) and BTBPE (1.1-3.6 ng g-1 lw). The tissue-specific PCB and PBDE profiles were likely due to differences in the lipid composition. Toxic equivalent (TEQ) values of dioxin-like PCBs in coelacanth tissues were lower than the benchmark values for early-life fish. However, compared with the data reported for deep-sea fishes in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the relatively high concentrations of PCBs detected in this study raise concerns regarding Indonesian coelacanth conservation and habitat conditions.
