Differential uptake of heavy metals by gill,muscles and liver of four selected fish species from red sea

Concentrations of 10 heavy metals (cu,zn,cd,pb,fe,mn,cr,se,as,and hg) were determined in different organ tissues of four selected common red sea fish species viz.,lethrinus nebulosus,cetoscarus pulchellus,plectorhynchus schotaf and epinephelus spp. there was a highly significant (p< 0.01) difference among the 4 fish species and between organs for the accumulation of all 10 metals. the concentration of fe was highest closely followed by zn,whereas cd was detected in the lowest concentration. the liver accumulated the highest concentration of metals and muscles had the concentration of all studied metals. it has been observed that lethrinus nebulosus species accumulated the highest concentration of total analyzed elements in this study,which indicate that this species have more potential to accumulate all of metals in each tissue. copyright 2015 zoological society of pakistan.