Variations in the Microcystin Content of Different Fish Species Collected from a Eutrophic Lake

doi:10.3390/toxins5050992

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Toxins 2013, 5(5), 992-1009; doi:10.3390/toxins5050992

Article

Variations in the Microcystin Content of Different Fish Species Collected from a Eutrophic Lake

Justine R. Schmidt^1,* , Mylynda Shaskus²

, John F. Estenik²

, Carl Oesch³

, Roman Khidekel³

and Gregory L. Boyer¹

+ Authors' affiliations

Received: 2 April 2013 / Revised: 30 April 2013 / Accepted: 14 May 2013 / Published: 15 May 2013

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyanotoxins)

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Abstract: Microcystins produced from cyanobacteria can accumulate in fish tissues. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is an attractive alternative to immunoassays for the determination of low concentrations of microcystins in tissues. Fish taken from Grand Lake St. Marys, a eutrophic lake in Ohio, USA, were analyzed for microcystin-LR in their fillets using LC-MS/MS. Of 129 fish tested for microcystins, only black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) tested positive for microcystin-LR. Less than 10% of Pomoxis and 7% of Cyprinus samples contained measurable levels of microcystin-LR. Statistical analysis yielded a p-value of 0.07 between Pomoxis and the pooled results of the other four fish species. However, this comparison was complicated by the large difference in sample size between species. Further sampling in Grand Lake St. Marys for microcystin-LR would help determine if microcystin-LR exposure occurs through foodweb transfer.

Keywords: LC-MS/MS; microcystin-LR; accumulation; fish; cyanobacteria; toxin

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Schmidt, J.R.; Shaskus, M.; Estenik, J.F.; Oesch, C.; Khidekel, R.; Boyer, G.L. Variations in the Microcystin Content of Different Fish Species Collected from a Eutrophic Lake. Toxins 2013, 5, 992-1009.

AMA Style

Schmidt JR, Shaskus M, Estenik JF, Oesch C, Khidekel R, Boyer GL. Variations in the Microcystin Content of Different Fish Species Collected from a Eutrophic Lake. Toxins. 2013; 5(5):992-1009.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Schmidt, Justine R.; Shaskus, Mylynda; Estenik, John F.; Oesch, Carl; Khidekel, Roman; Boyer, Gregory L. 2013. "Variations in the Microcystin Content of Different Fish Species Collected from a Eutrophic Lake." Toxins 5, no. 5: 992-1009.

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