ABSTRACT
The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, which occurred on April 20, 2010, led to approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil entering the northern Gulf of Mexico. Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, an important fish in the Gulf of Mexico, were potentially exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from this oil spill. To assess this potential PAH exposure, Red Snapper tissue samples and sediment samples from nearby reefs were analyzed for several PAHs from 2010 to 2012. Red Snapper were also analyzed for several condition indices from 2010 to 2015. All samples showed mean total PAH concentrations <10 ppb, near the limit of detection for the gas chromatography/mass spectrometer. Also, for the most part, ratios of phenanthrene:anthracene were less than eight and fluoranthene:pyrene greater than one, which indicated a pyrogenic source rather than a petrogenic or DWH–oil spill source of PAHs. Lesions were observed in 0.25% (10 of 3934) of the Red Snapper collected in the present study, which were similar to levels in non-oil-exposed fishes. No consistent oil spill effects were detected for gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, or Fulton’s condition index in Red Snapper. The present study detected little evidence that adult Red Snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico on the Alabama–Mississippi continental shelf were affected by the DWH oil spill relative to PAH levels in their tissues. This conclusion was based on low levels of PAH in Red Snapper tissues and proximate sediments, the lack of a petrogenic source of PAHs, little change in condition indices, and low evidence of external lesions.
