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

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 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]

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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), Vol. 123:1; ISSN 0002-8487
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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