Cyanide (CN) is commonly utilized by reef-divers in the coral triangle to stun fish for capture for use in the marine aquarium trade. This practice poisons targeted fish, nontargeted fish, and other marine organisms, including corals that inhabit the reef. A quick, sensitive, and specific test for detecting if a fish has been caught by cyanide has long been the goal of the marine aquarium trade, but little is known about the toxicokinetics of CN metabolism in marine fish. Our focus is to develop a technique for quantifying cyanide in the blood of marine fish. Microdiffusion is a common technique used to isolate cyanide from complex matrices. Reported here are the results of testing different capture chambers and receiving vessels. The capture chambers were tested using CN aqueous standards and CN-spiked samples of marine blood to establish a protocol to test the blood of CN-exposed fish. These devices were compared for reproducibility and consistency among samples; the receiving vessel was tested to see whether derivatization of the receiving solution produced a higher recovery of isolated CN during or after capture. The CN was derivatized using, 2,3-napthalene dicarboxaldehyde and taurine to produce the fluorescence product, 1-cyano-2-substituted benzoisoindole for analysis by HPLC-fluorescence and HPLC-UV. The amount of CN recovered was determined from a calibration curve constructed using the aqueous CN captured with CN quantities ranging from 0.1 to 25 ng. It was determined that for the most consistent reocovery of CN, derivatization should be done during capture. The optimized microdiffusion apparatus will be used to determine the cyanide in the blood of <i>Amphriprion clarkii</i> and other marine fish exposed to cyanide.

Development of a cyanide microdiffusion capture apparatus for marine fish samples

ACS Spring 2022

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