heavy metal concentrations in gill and liver tissues of rutilus kutum and chelon aurata in the coast of babolsar, southern caspian sea

heavy metal accumulation in the aquatic ecosystems is a main concern which threats human health. in this study two commercial fish species, rutilus kutum and chelon aurata were selected for assessing heavy metal (cd, pb, zn) concentrations in gill and liver tissues at babolsar’s coast, the southern caspian sea, iran. babolsar is one of the important fishery stations in the southern caspian sea. the results showed that liver tissue of c. aurata significantly accumulated higher concentration of cd, pb and zn compared to that of r. kutum , but these results were not significant for gill tissue. liver tissue accumulated higher concentration of cd and pb compared to gill tissue in c. aurata , but these results were not significant for r. kutum . it is concluded that the liver tissue of c. aurata has higher potential to accumulate heavy metal pollution compared to liver tissue of r. kutum