Sandimirov S. Specific Features of Accumulation of Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd and Hg in Two Whitefish Coregonus lavaretus (L.). Morphs Inhabiting the Inari-Pasvik Lacustrine-Riverine System. Inland Water Biology. 2011, Vol. 4, №, p. 383-392.

SPECIFIC FEATURES OF ACCUMULATION OF Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd, AND Hg 387 (B) 30 _l_____I_____I_____I_____I— (C) (D) 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 0 Fig. 2. Contents of Cu (A, B) and Ni (C, D) in the organs of sparsely rakered (A, C) and medium-rakered (B, D) whitefish in the Pasvik River basin waterbodies: (a) gill; (b) muscles; (c) liver; (d) kidney; (x axis) waterbodies: (1) Kuetsjarvi, (2) Skrykkebukta, (3) Vaggetem, (4) Rajakoski, and (5) Inari. of whitefish decreased in the following order: liver > kidney > gill > muscles. It is worth noting that, in all whitefish organs, the levels o f Cu were highly variable (Fig. 2). Statistically significant (t = 2.79 and 3.43; p > 0.05) differences in Cu content in sparsely and medium-rakered whitefish were found only in the gill and kidney of the fish from Lake Kuetsjarvi; in the kid­ ney from the Skrykkebukta Reservoir; and in the mus­ cles from Lake Inari. A decrease in the level o f Cu accumulation in the fish tissues along the increasing distance from Pechenganickel smelter was more pro ­ nounced in the planktivorous form (Fig. 2). The dif­ ferences in Cu content in the fish from neighboring waterbodies were statistically insignificant. However, in the fish from Lake Kuetsjarvi, in comparison with the fish from waterbodies of the river upstream, these differences were clear (t = 2.11...6.21, p > 0.05). Nickel The levels of Ni in the studied morphs of whitefish decreased with distance from the source of the metal inflow to the water. The highest mean values of Ni in the studied waterbodies of the Pasvik system were found in the fish from Lake Kuetsjarvi: the levels were more than twofold higher than in other waterbodies of the basin (Table 2 and Fig. 2). The Ni accumulation in the whitefish organism was most intensive in kidney. In the benthivorous whitefish, the metal content aver­ aged 30.5 ^g/g; in planktivorous the average was 22.3 ^g/g. The levels o f Ni in all organs o f two white- fish morphs decreased in the order kidney > gill > liver > muscles. The content of Ni in all organs of two whitefish morphs was significantly different in Lake Kuetsjarvi (t = 2 .4 .4 .1 9 , p > 0.05) and in the gill (2.27) and liver (3.49) of the Vaggetem Reservoir fish. The spatial dif- INLAND WATER BIOLOGY Vol. 4 No. 3 2011