The source of bromophenols in some species of Australian ocean fish

The carcass and gut contents of 10 species of fish caught along the eastern coast of Australia were analysed by gas chromatography-multiple ion detection-mass spectrometry for a range of bromophenols including 2- and 4-bromophenol, 2,4- and 2,6-dibromophenol and 2,4,6-tribromophenol. These bromophenols, the cause of iodoform-like off-flavours in seafoods, were found in eight of the above species; the largest total concentrations of bromophenols occurred in the commercially important species Nemadactylus douglasii (40 ng/g). The concentrations of bromophenols in another three species Branchiostegus wardi, Rhabdosargus sarba, and Girella tricuspidata, were found to exceed 10 ng/g while in a further four species their concentrations varied between 3 and 8 ng/g. However, these compounds were not identified in the remaining two species at a detection limit of 0.05 ng/g. The variations among fish diets suggest that the bromophenol content of individual fish can be explained by the relative contribution of benthic organisms and marine algae to the fish diet. Bromophenols were found in all of the benthic carnivores and diverse omnivores examined but were not detected in pelagic carnivorous fish.