J. HellouCorresponding author contact information, a, V. Zitkob, J. Frielc, T. Alkananic

Muscle, liver and gonad of yellowtail flounder Pleuronectes ferruginea collected in the Northwest Atlantic were analyzed for elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentration of Mg was always highest, followed by that of Ca (> 100 μg/g, dry wt.). Arsenic, B, Cd, Fe, Pb, Se, Si and Zn were generally detected in all tissues at concentrations above 1 μg/g. Aluminum, Cs, Cu, Li, Mn and V were below 1 μg/g, except for Cd, Cu and Mn in liver and Cu in gonad (> 1 μg/g). The concentration of Pb was below 0.3 μg/g in all tissues. The concentration of elements in liver and gonad differed between sexes, and in muscle between offshore and laboratory-kept fish. Three strong interelement correlations were consistently present in all tissues: LiRb, MgRb and LiMg, while additional correlations were tissue specific. Principal component analysis (PCA) was a useful technique to examine the data.