Abstract:

This dataset contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) data from reef fish collected at natural reefs sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The samples were collected on multiple vessels (Backdown II, Intimidator, and Total Package) from 2015-08-30 to 2017-11-02. Liver samples extracted from reef fishes were frozen in liquid nitrogen at sea, then kept frozen in a -80 °C freezer. Liver samples were transferred to the University of South Florida where they were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for PAHs.

Suggested Citation:

Glabach, Miaya; Romero, Isabel. 2019. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) data from reef fish collected at natural reefs sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2015-08-30 to 2017-11-02. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-25cs-mh79

Purpose:

To determine if reef fishes had been exposed to PAHs following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Data Parameters and Units:

Sample name, mass of sample (g), amt IS (ng), date (sampling date; MM/DD/YYYY), Vessel (name of sampling vessel), Site (site name), Region #, Liver, Latitude and Longitude (Degree minutes), Field order, Fish Sample ID (unique sample identifier), Habitat (natural reef), species (common name), FL (Forked Length; mm), TL (Total length of Fish; mm), Condition 5 signifies that fish was sacrificed and biological samples collected, Sex (M or F), mass (kg). Compound information: Target compounds are 2-ring PAHs: Naphthalene (N) and alkylated homologues (N C1-C4); 3-ring: Acenaphthylene (ACL), Acenaphthene (ACE), Fluorene (F) and alkylated homologues (F1,F2), Dibenzothiophene (D), Phenanthrene (P), Anthracene (AN), and their alkylated homologues (P/AN C1-C4, D C1-C2), 4-ring: Fluoranthene (FL), Pyrene (PY), Benz[a]anthracene (BAA), Chrysene (C), and their alkylated homologues (FL/PY C1-C4, BAA/C C1-C4), 5-ring: Benzo[b]fluoranthene (BBF), Benzo[k]fluoranthene (BKF), Benzo[a]pyr- ene (BAP), Dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DA), and alkylated homologues (BP/PER C1-C4), and 6-ring: Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (ID), Benzo[ghi]perylene (BGP). All units of measurements are in ng/g dry weight.

Methods:

Fish samples were frozen after capture and PAHs was extracted from the liver as described in Romero et al., 2018.

Instruments:

Agilent 7680B gas chromatograph coupled with an Agilent 7010 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer.

Provenance and Historical References:

Romero, I. C., Sutton, T., Carr, B., Quintana-Rizzo, E., Ross, S. W., Hollander, D. J., & Torres, J. J. (2018). Decadal Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Mesopelagic Fishes from the Gulf of Mexico Reveals Exposure to Oil-Derived Sources. Environmental Science & Technology, 52(19), 10985–10996. doi:10.1021/acs.est.8b02243

Individual Files: