Applying a fish expert system for ranking the biological effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the rockfish Sebastiscus marmoratus in the Maowei Sea, China

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica 2022-12, Vol.41 (12), p.105-114
• Main Authors: Zheng, Ronghui, Fang, Chao, Hong, Fukun, Kuang, Weiming, Jiang, Yulu, Chen, Jincan, Zhang, Yusheng, Bo, Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annual reports; Aquaculture; Aromatic compounds; Aromatic hydrocarbons; Artificial intelligence; Atmospheric pollution deposition; Bile; Biological effects; Biomarkers; Biomonitoring; Chemical analysis; Climatology; Coastal environments; Coastal zone; Coastal zones; Coasts; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Expert systems; Fish; Fish farms; Industrialization; Laboratories; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Marine fishes; Marine molluscs; Metabolites; Natural resources; Oceanography; PCB; Pesticides; Petroleum; Phenanthrene; Pollution; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; R&D; Ranking; Research & development; Runoff; Seawater; Sebastiscus marmoratus; Shellfish farming; Urbanization; Variance analysis; Water analysis
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-022-2033-1

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution, particularly in coastal environments, is a global concern. In this study, the biomonitoring and ranking effects of PAHs in the rockfish Sebastiscus marmoratus were determined in the Maowei Sea, China. The results showed that the concentrations of the 16 priority PAHs detected in the surface seawater were moderate compared with those in other coastal areas worldwide, and the possible sources were rapid industrialization and urbanization combined with atmospheric deposition and runoff. Nested analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggested significant differences in the hepatic ethoxyresorufin- O -deethylase (EROD) activities and phenanthrene-derived metabolites in bile between the port area and the oyster farming area. The fish expert system (FES) was applied to evaluate the biological effects of PAHs on fish. The FES data demonstrated that the biological effect levels of Site S1 (level III, medium stress) were higher than those of the other sampling sites (level II, low stress).