Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?

Significant efforts are invested in field studies using fish, and it is important to optimize the number of organisms collected to evaluate the possible impacts of contamination. This paper provides ecotoxicologists with the approximate numbers of fish needed to identify statistically significant di...

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Main Authors: Gagnon, Marthe Monique, Hodson, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Pergamon 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29846
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author Gagnon, Marthe Monique
Hodson, P.
author_facet Gagnon, Marthe Monique
Hodson, P.
author_sort Gagnon, Marthe Monique
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Significant efforts are invested in field studies using fish, and it is important to optimize the number of organisms collected to evaluate the possible impacts of contamination. This paper provides ecotoxicologists with the approximate numbers of fish needed to identify statistically significant differences among samples using physiological indices and biochemical markers of fish health. The numbers of fish to collect are reported for ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD); ethoxycoumarin-o-deethylase (ECOD), serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (sSDH), stress proteins, gonadosomatic index, liver somatic index, condition factor, and biliary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The number of fish to collect was as few as four for ECOD activity (with a power of 80%), but as high as 106 for CF (with a power of 95%). Achieving statistical significance between sites does not help in the interpretation of the biological significance of a parameter, but well-planned field samplings will maximize the chances of correctly identifying areas of concern.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2012
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-298462017-09-13T15:29:34Z Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough? Gagnon, Marthe Monique Hodson, P. Significant efforts are invested in field studies using fish, and it is important to optimize the number of organisms collected to evaluate the possible impacts of contamination. This paper provides ecotoxicologists with the approximate numbers of fish needed to identify statistically significant differences among samples using physiological indices and biochemical markers of fish health. The numbers of fish to collect are reported for ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD); ethoxycoumarin-o-deethylase (ECOD), serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (sSDH), stress proteins, gonadosomatic index, liver somatic index, condition factor, and biliary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The number of fish to collect was as few as four for ECOD activity (with a power of 80%), but as high as 106 for CF (with a power of 95%). Achieving statistical significance between sites does not help in the interpretation of the biological significance of a parameter, but well-planned field samplings will maximize the chances of correctly identifying areas of concern. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29846 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.08.016 Pergamon fulltext
spellingShingle Gagnon, Marthe Monique
Hodson, P.
Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?
title Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?
title_full Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?
title_fullStr Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?
title_full_unstemmed Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?
title_short Field studies using fish biomarkers – How many fish are enough?
title_sort field studies using fish biomarkers – how many fish are enough?
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29846