Effects of rainbow trout fry of a metals-contaminated diet of benthic invertebrates from the Clark Fork River, Montana

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1994 · Transactions of the American Fisheries Society; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1994)123<0051:EORTFO>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:6643193

Woodward, D F ^[1]; Brumbaugh, W G; DeLonay, A J; Little, E E ^[2]; Smith, C E ^[3]

---

1. National Fisheries Contaminant Research Center, Jackson, WY (United States)
2. National Fisheries Contaminant Research Center, Columbia, MO (United States)
3. Bozeman Fish Technology Center, MT (United States)

The upper Clark Fork River in northwestern Montana has received mining wastes from the Butte and Anaconda areas since 1880. These wastes have contaminated areas of the river bed and floodplain with tailings and heavy metal sludge, resulting in elevated concentration of metals in surface water, sediments, and biota. Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were exposed immediately after hatching for 91 d to cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in water at concentrations simulating those in Clark Fork River. From exogenous feeding (21 d posthatch) through 91 d, fry were also fed benthic invertebrates from the Clark Fork River that contained elevated concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, and lead. Evaluations of different combinations of diet and water exposure indicated diet-borne metals were more important than water-borne metals - at the concentrations we tested - in reducing survival and growth of rainbow trout. Whole-body metal concentrations ([mu]g/g, wet weight) at 91 d in fish fed Clark Fork invertebrates without exposure to Clark Fork water were arsenic, 1.4; cadmium, 0.16; and copper, 6.7. These were similar to concentrations found in Clark Fork River fishes. Livers from fish on the high-metals diets exhibited degenerative changes and generally lacked glycogen vacuolation. Indigenous Clark Fork River invertebrates provide a concentrated source of metals for accumulation into young fishes, and probably were the cause of decreased survival and growth of age-0 rainbow trout in our laboratory exposures. 30 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6643193
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Fisheries Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Fisheries Society; (United States) Vol. 123:1; ISSN TAFSAI; ISSN 0002-8487
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
550500 -- Metabolism
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARSENIC
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CADMIUM
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COPPER
DIET
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
EVALUATION
FISHES
FOOD CHAINS
LEAD
METALS
POLLUTION
SEMIMETALS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TROUT
VERTEBRATES
WATER POLLUTION
ZINC