Heavy Metal Concentrations in Tissues of the Shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus (De Haan, 1844) From Jazan, Southern Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia

The aim of the present study was to determine levels of zinc, nickel, copper, lead, cobalt and cadmium, in gills, muscle tissue and exoskeleton of the shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus, caught from Jazan, southern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, and to assess whether these metals are within permissible limits for human consumption. The analysis showed that occurrence of heavy metals were in the order Zn > Pb > Cd > Cu > Ni > Co in gills, Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd > Ni > Co in muscles and Zn > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cd > Co in exoskeleton. An overall ranking of average trace metal levels in the analyzed tissues resulted as gills > exoskeleton > muscles for Zn, Pb and Cd and; in case of Ni, Cu and Co the sequence was exoskeleton > muscle > gills. The highest mean Pb, Cd and Zn concentrations (21.33, 6.33 and 24.0 mu g g(-1) wet weight, respectively) were found in gills samples, but the highest level of Ni, Cu and Co (3.0, 11.67 and 1. 36 mu g g(-1), respectively) was observed in exoskeleton. The results revealed that the heavy metal concentrations (except Pb and Cd) in the shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus are below the threshold levels associated with the toxicological effects and the regulatory limits. This study is the first on the shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus in this area and data are important as a background for the estimation of the future impact of metal concentrations in this area.