Disposition of phenanthrene and octachlorostyrene in spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus, after intragastric administration.

Abstract

Spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) is a commercial crustacean in Bermuda. It was therefore of interest to study the fate of xenobiotics in the species as very little attention has been paid to toxicological studies with spiny lobsters. We have earlier found that the temperate crustacean, NeDhroDs ~olveaicus (Norway lobster) had the ability to accumulate and eliminate phenanthrene (Palmork and Solbakken 1980; Solbakken and Palmork 1981). The aim of this investigation was to gain a better understanding of the fate of xenobiotics in crustaceans under different environmental conditions, and to compare the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, phenenthrene, with the more environmentally presistent chlorinated compound octachlorostyrene, a by-product of magnesium metal production. MATERIALS AND METHODS Spiny lobster (Panulirus aruus) of both sexes were collected around Bermuda and acclimatised for about a week prior to dosing. They were fed thawed frozen squid (Loligo opalasen) every second day during the entire experimental period. The mean weight, number of organisms and source of chemicals used are given in Table I. Approximately the same dose of 14C-labelled phenanthrene and octachlorostyrene administered intragastrically in the two