Table 31. Summary of results for total cytochrome P-450 content and EROD activity in 

 Platichthys stellatus sampled in January-February 1987. 



Treatment Total EROD b EROD c 



or site N P-450 a 



Berkeley 

 Oakland 

 Santa Cruz 



a nmol/mg protein 



b nmol/min/mg protein 



c nmol/min/nmol total P-450 



Relative Sensitivity of Bioeffects Measures in Fish 



Very few fish were caught in the January-February collections. The measures of 

 spawning success, therefore, are difficult to interpret. A pattern of decreased success in fish 

 from BK relative to those from outer coastal site at SC is suggested by the data, but the 

 small sample sizes preclude drawing many conclusions. In many years of previous research 

 with this species in San Francisco, significant differences in fertilization success and larval 

 hatching success have been recorded among sites. Fish from the BK and OK sites have 

 generally indicated impaired reproductive success compared to those from SP, SC, and other 

 sites (Spies et ah, 1985; Spies and Rice, 1988). The measures of AHH and cytochrome P-450 

 activities in fish caught in January-February are equally difficult to interpret because of the 

 small sample sizes. The measures of micronuclei in the January-February fish were pooled 

 with those made on November-December fish. Therefore, the discussion of the biological 

 measures in fish will be confined to those performed with fish caught in November and 

 December. 



The data from the biological measures of the health of the fish caught in November 

 and December were not normally distributed (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). Following various 

 transformations of the data, they remained not normally distributed. Therefore, non- 

 parametric statistical tests generally were performed with the fish data. 



Based upon the non-parametric K-W test, there were no significant differences among 

 sites in length (p = 0.106), weight (p = 0.113), GSI (p = 0.122), HSI (p = 0.708), and liver 

 weight (p = 0.248) among females. Among the males, there were differences among sites in 

 these measures: length (p = 0.014), weight (p = 0.010), GSI (p = 0.029), HSI ( p = 0.200), and 

 liver weight (0.0495). However, non-parametric S-N-K tests could not identify which sites 

 were different. Generally, the fish from the RR site were larger and those from the OK site 

 were smaller than the others. 



Both EROD and cytochrome P-450E measurements indicated a similar pattern of 

 relatively high induction of the cytochrome P-450 system in fish, especially immatures, from 

 the BK and OK sites and low induction in fish from the SP, VJ, and RR sites. EROD 

 activity, expressed as either units per mg protein or units per nmol P-450, indicated 

 differences between sites (p = 0.0004 and p = 0.003, respectively): higher in immature fish 

 from OK than in mature fish from SP, RR, and BK and immatures from RR (Table 32). Mean 

 EROD activities in mature OK fish and immature BK fish were also relatively high, but 

 not significantly different from those at other sites. Cytochrome P-450E activity per mg 

 protein was significantly higher in immature OK fish than in mature fish from RR and SP 



68 



