Fluoride in Antarctic marine crustaceans

The concentration of fluoride in the body parts of a range of Antarctic crustaceans from a variety of habits was examined with the aim of determining whether fluoride concentration is related to lifestyle or phylogenetic grouping. Euphausiids had the highest overall fluoride concentrations of a range of Antarctic marine crustaceans examined; levels of up to 5477 μg g-1 were found in the exoskeleton of Euphausia crystallorophias. Copepods had the lowest fluoride levels (0.87 μg g-1 whole-body); some amphipods and mysids also exhibited relatively high fluoride levels. There was no apparent relationship between the lifestyle of the crustaceans and their fluoride level; benthic and pelagic species exhibited both high and low fluoride levels. Fluoride was concentrated in the exoskeleton, but not evenly distributed through it; the exoskeleton of the head, carapace and abdomen contained the highest concentrations of fluoride, followed by the feeding basket and pleopods, and the eyes. The mouthparts of E. superba contained almost 13000 μg F g-1 dry wt. Antarctic krill tail muscle had low levels of fluoride. After long-term (1 to 5 yr) storage in formalin, fluoride was almost completely lost from whole euphausiids.