Selenium tissue burden compartmentalization in resident white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) of the San Francisco Bay Delta estuary.

High selenium (Se) loads in the San Francisco Bay Delta are bioaccumulated and biomagnified in food webs and can impair the reproduction of resident oviparous animals such as white sturgeon. The objective of the present study was to determine the Se tissue burden in San Francisco Bay Delta-resident white sturgeon to assess Se bioaccumulation in different organs, including ovaries and liver where egg yolk precursor proteins are synthesized. The authors obtained 54 San Francisco Bay Delta-resident white sturgeon including 26 female and 28 male subadults with immature gonads, 8 females with vitellogenic eggs, and 13 males with maturing gonads. Length, weight, age, reproductive stage of development, and kidney, liver, gonad, and muscle Se concentrations were determined in all fish. Concentrations of Se in muscle, gonads, and liver significantly increased with fish size, whereas kidney Se was not correlated to body size and was at the highest level compared with other organs. There was no difference between the sexes (p > 0.05) in Se concentrations in kidney (12.83 ± 0.51 µg · g(-1) dry wt), liver (11.85 ± 1.04 µg · g(-1) dry wt), and muscle (7.09 ± 0.52 µg · g(-1) dry wt; mean ± standard error, n = 47); but Se concentration was higher in the ovary than in testis (p = 0.04). Females with vitellogenic eggs had higher Se concentrations in the ovaries (20.77 ± 4.11 µg · g(-1) dry wt vs 5.22 ± 2.50 µg · g(-1) dry wt), liver (21.84 ± 2.07 µg · g(-1) dry wt vs 8.03 ± 1.03 µg · g(-1) dry wt), and muscle (10.18 ± 1.93 µg · g(-1) dry wt vs 5.48 ± 0.64 µg · g(-1) dry wt) compared with less advanced, previtellogenic females (p < 0.05). The elevated Se concentrations in the ovaries and liver of vitellogenic San Francisco Bay Delta white sturgeon were comparable with levels previously shown to cause reproductive toxicity in dietary Se experiments with captive white sturgeon.