Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Concentrations of trace elements in the kidney, liver, muscle, and skin of short sea snake (Lapemis curtus) from the Strait of Hormuz Persian Gulf

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To our knowledge, this is the first report into trace elements accumulation in tissues of the short sea snake (Lapemis curtus). Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were determined in the kidney, liver, skin, and muscle tissues of short sea snake, L. curtus, from the Strait of Hormuz during October 2011. Skins generally displayed the lowest trace element burdens. Kidneys displayed the highest Pb, Cd, V, Ni, and Cu mean concentrations (0.89, 0.04, 1.66, 6.22, and 20.23 μg g−1 dry weight, respectively), while muscle exhibited the highest Zn levels (493.32 μg g−1 dry weight). Concentration ranges of the selected trace elements were compared with those reported in other studies. Data presented here may be considered as a baseline for further ecotoxicological studies in sea snakes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al-Yousuf MH, El-Shahawi MS, Al-Ghais SM (2000) Trace elements in liver, skin and muscle of Lethrinus lentjan fish species in relation to body length and sex. Sci Total Environ 256:87–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J (1992) Trace element levels in pine snake hatchlings: tissue and temporal differences. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 22:209–213

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J, Gochfeld M, Rooney AA, Orlando EF, Woodward AR, Guillette LJ (2000) Metals and metalloids in tissues of American alligators in three Florida lakes. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 38:501–508

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J, Campbell KR, Campbell TS, Shukla T, Jeitner C, Ghochfeld M (2005) Use of skin and blood as nonlethal indicators of heavy metal contamination in northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon). Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 49:232–238

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J, Murray S, Gaines KF, Novak JM, Punshon T, Dixon C, Gochfeld M (2006) Element levels in snakes in South Carolina: difference between a control site and exposed site on the Savannah River site. Environ Monit Assess 112:35–52

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J, Campbell KR, Murray S, Campbell TS, Gaines KF, Jeitner C, Shukla T, Burke S, Gochfeld M (2007) Metal levels in blood, muscle and liver of water snakes (Nerodia spp.) from New Jersey, Tennessee and South Carolina. Sci Total Environ 373:556–563

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell KR, Campbell TS (2002) A logical starting point for developing priorities for lizard and snake ecotoxicology: a review of available data. Environ Toxicol Chem 21:894–898

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell KR, Campbell TS, Burger J (2005) Heavy metal concentrations in northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) from East Fork Poplar Creek and the Little River, East Tennessee, USA. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 49:239–248

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cempel M, Nikel G (2006) Nickel: a review of its sources and environmental toxicology. Polish J Environ Stud 15(3):375–382

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dotsenko IB (1999) Snakes from Vietnam at the National Museum of Natural History of Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences stock collection. Communication 1. The sea snakes - Hydrophiidae. Vestnik Zoologii 33:39–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebrahimi-Sirizi Z, Riyahi-Bakhtiyari A (2013) Petroleum pollution in mangrove forests sediments from Qeshm Island and Khamir Port-Persian Gulf, Iran. Environ Monit Assess 185(5):4019–4032

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eghtesadi-Araghi P, Farzadnia S (2011) Petroleum inputs to the Persian Gulf. Res J Environ Sci 5:134–141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Emara HI (1990) Oil pollution in the southern Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Mar Pollut Bull 21:399–401

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons JW, Scott DE, Ryan TJ, Buhlmann KA, Tuberville T, Metts BS, Greene JL, Leiden Y, Poppy S, Winne CT (2000) The global decline of reptiles, déjà vu amphibians. BioSci 50(8):653–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall RJ (1980) Effects of environmental contaminants on reptiles: a review. US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Scientific Report Wildlife 228

  • Hopkins WA, Rowe CL, Congdon JD (1999) Elevated trace element concentrations and standard metabolic rate in banded water snakes (Nerodia fasciata) exposed to coal combustion wastes. Environ Toxicol Chem 18:1258–1263

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins WA, Roe JH, Snodgrass JW, Jackson BP, Kling DE, Rowe CL, Congdon JD (2001) Nondestructive indices of trace element exposure in squamata reptiles. Environ Pollut 115:1–7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ikem A, Egiebor NO (2005) Assessment of trace elements in canned fishes (mackerel, tuna, salmon, sardines and herrings) marketed in Georgia and Alabama (United States of America). J Food Comp Anal 18:771–787

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones DE, Holladay SD (2006) Excretion of three heavy metals in the shed skins of exposed corn snakes (Elaphe guttata). Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 64:221–225

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karthikeyan R, Balasubramanian T (2007) Species diversity of sea snake (Hydrophiidae) distributed in the coramantal coast (East Coast of India). Int J Zoo Rese 3:107–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kordi M, Shabanipour N (2012) Morphological characteristics of short sea snake, Lapemis curtus (Shaw, 1802), with notes on new identification characteristics. Iranian J Ani Bio 8(1):71–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Lobo AS, Vasudevan K, Pandav B (2005) Trophic ecology of Lapemis curtus (Hydrophiinae) along the Western Coast of India. Copeia 637–641

  • Lukoschek V, Guinea M, Cogger H, Rasmussen A, Murphy J, Lane A, Sanders K, Lobo A, Gatus J, Limpus C, Milton D, Courtney T, Read M, Fletcher E, Marsh D, White MD, Heatwole H, Alcala A, Voris H, Karns D (2010) Lapemis curtus. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN red list of threatened species. Version 2013.2. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 04 January 2014

  • Mashroofeh A, Riyahi BA, Pourkazemi M (2012) Bioaccumulation of Zn, Cu and Mn in the caviar and muscle of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) from the Caspian Sea, Iran. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 89:1201–1204

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mashroofeh A, Riyahi BA, Pourkazemi M, Rasouli S (2013) Bioaccumulation of Cd, Pb and Zn in the edible and inedible tissues of three sturgeon species in the Iranian coastline of the Caspian Sea. Chemosphere 90:573–580

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McClellan-Green P, Celander M, Oberdorster E (2006) Hepatic, renal, and adrenal toxicology. In: Gardner SC, Oberdorster E (eds) Toxicology of reptiles. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 123–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Neff JM (2002) Bioaccumulation in marine organisms: effects of contaminants from oil well produced water, 1st edn. Elsevier, Oxford, p 452

    Google Scholar 

  • Pourang N, Nikouyan A, Dennis JH (2005) Trace element concentrations in fish, surficial sediments and water from northern part of the Persian Gulf. Environ Monit Assess 109:293–316

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen AR, Gravlund P, Nguyên C, Chanhome L (2007) A resurrection of Hydrophis pachycercos Fischer 1855 (Serpentes: Elapidae) with a new neotype from Vietnamese waters. Hamadryad 31:288–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen AR, Elmberg J, Gravlund P, Ineich I (2011) Sea snakes (Serpentes: subfamilies Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae) in Vietnam: a comprehensive checklist and an updated identification key. Zootaxa 2894:1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds MR (1993) Physical oceanography of the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman: results from the Mt. Mitchell expedition. Mar Pollut Bull 27:35–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rezaie-Atagholipour M, Riyahi-Bakhtiari A, Sajjadi M, Yap CK, Ghaffari S, Ebrahimi-Sirizi Z, Ghezellou P (2012) Metal concentrations in selected tissues and main prey species of the annulated sea snake (Hydrophis cyanocinctus) in the Hara Protected Area, northeastern coast of the Persian Gulf, Iran. Mar Pollut Bull 64:416–421

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rie M, Lendas K, Callard IP (2001) Cadmium: tissue distribution and binding protein induction in the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta. Comp Biochem Physiol C: Pharmacol Toxicol Endocrinol 130(1):41–51

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sadiq M, Zaidi TH (1984) Vanadium and nickel content of Nowruz spill tar flakes on the Saudi Arabian coastline and their probable environmental impact. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 32:635–639

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shirani M, Mirvaghefi A, Farahmand H, Abdollahi M (2012) Biomarker responses in mudskipper (Periophthalmus waltoni) from the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf with oil pollution. Environ Toxicol Pharm 34(3):705–13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sparling DW, Bishop CA, Linder G (2000) The current status of amphibian and reptile ecotoxicological research. In: Sparling DW, Linder G, Bishop CA (eds) Ecotoxicology of amphibians and reptiles. SETC, Pensacola, pp 1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Uluozlu OD, Tuzen M, Mendil D, Soylak M (2007) Trace metal content in nine species of fish from the Black and Aegean seas, Turkey. Food Chem 104:835–840

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voris HK (1972) The role of sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) in the trophic structure of coastal ocean communities. J Mar Biol Assoc India 14(2):429–442

    Google Scholar 

  • Yadollahvand R, Kami HG, Mashroofeh A, Riyahi Bakhtiari A (2014) Assessment trace elements concentrations in tissues in Caspian Pond Turtle (Mauremys caspica) from Golestan Province, Iran. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 101:191–195

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Forensic Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resource, Tarbiat Modares University, PO Box 46414-356, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran

    Zahra Heydari Sereshk & Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari

Authors
  1. Zahra Heydari Sereshk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Heydari Sereshk, Z., Riyahi Bakhtiari, A. Concentrations of trace elements in the kidney, liver, muscle, and skin of short sea snake (Lapemis curtus) from the Strait of Hormuz Persian Gulf. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 15781–15787 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4631-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4631-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation