The origin and chemical form of arsenic in the school whiting

Arsenic concentrations were determined in the several stages of a short food chain culminating in school whiting (Sillago bassensis) from Waterman, Western Australia. Arsenic was shown to be present in school whiting as arsenobetaine. Analyses of plant material from Waterman suggest that the primary concentrator of arsenic from seawater is the brown kelp Ecklonia radiata. Analyses of trumpeter whiting (Sillago maculata) from Cockburn Sound, a semi-enclosed marine basin receiving arsenic-containing industrial effluents, reveal significantly lower levels of arsenic than school whiting from Waterman, an unpolluted environment.