10 . 
To cooperate with other agencies in determining the re¬ 
lationship of pollutant effects on striped bass to other 
ecosystem processes, e.g., water outflow and diversion and 
other species in the striped bass food chain. 
11. To make field tests of predictive models. 
The results here are updated from a previous report 
(Whipple, 1984) and summarized from a manuscript in prepara¬ 
tion: "A multivariate approach to studying the interactive 
effects of inherent and environmental factors, including pol¬ 
lutants, on striped bass in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, Cali¬ 
fornia" by Jeannette A. Whipple, R. Bruce MacFarlane, Maxwell B. 
Eldridge, and Pete E. Benville, Jr. 
Methods 
We have examined approximately 500 fish captured in the 
field from the San Francisco Bay-Delta (400); the Coos River, 
Oregon (41); Lake Mead, Nevada (30); and from the Hudson River, 
New York (26). Techniques of histopathological examination and 
autopsy have been developed to assess the health of striped bass 
and to continue annual monitoring (Whipple, et. al . 1984). 
Approximately 350 characteristics of the fish were examined 
initially -- from the biochemical level to organ system and in¬ 
dividual organism levels -- to determine the best measures of 
health. Subsamples were taken of liver, ovaries and muscles to 
determine burdens for the following major classes of pollutants: 
petrochemicals or petroleum hydrocarbons (monocyclic aromatics, 
polycyclic aromatics), chlorinated hydrocarbons (including PCBs, 
toxaphene, DDT, and its metabolites and others), and heavy 
metals (copper, iron, zinc, cadmium, mercury, lead, nickel, and 
others). Tissues were also scanned for EPA's priority 
pollutants. 
Multivariate statistical techniques, including principal 
component factor analysis (Nie, 1975), were applied to the field 
data to determine correlations between sets of variables describ¬ 
ing conditions and the pollutant burdens. The following summary 
of results includes correlations and regressions found signifi¬ 
cant in multiple regression analyses at the P < .05 level or 
less. Several laboratory experiments were performed to verify 
correlations seen in field fish (Jung, Whipple, and Moser, 
1984). 
Results and Discussion 
The following summary of specific results apply to the 
goals above: 
1 . Location . There were differences among locations. The 
greatest proportion of the variability was attributable to 
different sampling locations. Thus, factor analyses were 
separated by location before assessing the other vari¬ 
ability. 
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