Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣海洋大學 === 海洋生物研究所 === 107 === Kueishan Island surrounding shallow hydrothermal vent with low-pH and high-sulfur. Several marine organisms inhabit in this extreme environment with their unique capability of adaptation. Crab Xenograpsus testudinatus is a dominant endemic creature in Kueishan Island. Studies on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in this toxic environment and bioaccumulation in the vent crab are still rare. In this study, the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment and in different organs (muscle, gill, hepatopancreas, and exoskeleton) of X. testudinatus were measured and compared. PAHs was extracted using the method of Soxhlet extraction and analyzed using GC-MS. The PAHs compositional pattern and isomeric ratios suggested that the source of PAHs in Kueishan Island mostly come from petroleum. The significant difference between the spring and summer samples might be affected by tide and the typhoon. It is found that PAH levels are much lower in the environment (sediment and seawater) than in the various organs of X. testudinatus, indicating that X. testudinatus has been bioaccumulating organic pollutants since POPs are lipophilic and persistent in nature. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the hepatopancreas was different from the other organs. The composition of PAHs in gill, muscle, and exoskeleton mainly are low molecular weight; while hepatopancreas is mainly composed of high and low molecular weight PAHs. Further studies are needed to investigate bioaccumulation of other POPs (such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCP)) in other animals of submarine hydrothermal vent ecosystem.
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