Abstract
In order to determine if exposure to Exxon Valdez oil would adversely affect progeny, reproductively mature Pacific herring were confined in water contaminated with weathered crude oil. Progeny were generally not affected by a 16‐d parental exposure to initial aqueous concentrations of ≤58 μg/L total polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), yielding concentrations of up to 9.7 μg/g in ova. In contrast, previous research indicated that a 16‐d direct exposure of herring eggs to similarly weathered oil was detrimental to developing embryos at total initial PAH concentrations of 9 μg/L. Progeny of exposed fish could have been insulated from toxic effects for two reasons. First, as an apparent result of partitioning and metabolism in parental tissues, lower concentrations and less toxic PAHs were preferentially accumulated by ova (primarily naphthalenes; 84–92%). Second, peak exposure concentrations occurred before cell differentiation. The opposite was true for directly exposed eggs; the more toxic multi‐ring PAHs (e.g., phenanthrenes and chrysenes) and alkyl‐substituted homologues were accumulated, and internal concentrations increased during cell division, differentiation, and organ development. Thus, Pacific herring embryos are more critically sensitive to oil pollution than are gametes.