Dunng the Bremerhaven Workshop chollnesterase measurements In d a b L~m a n d a llrnanda muscle were evaluated as a monitoring tool to assess the effect of pollutants along a 360 km transect In the North Sea, and around a dnlling s~t e The baslc properties of chol~nesterases, together wlth t h e~r natural vanabihty related to sex and size, were lnvestlgated The results show the presence of at least 2 d~fferent enzymes, acetylcholinesterase and butyrylchol~nesterase w t h h~g h actlv~tles In b r

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... a n , muscle and l~v e r No varlatlon was observed In relation to sex or slze The act~vity of both acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase was depressed In nearshore statlons along the transect and no variation was observed around the dr~lhng slte The K" of acetylchol~nesterase from muscle of d a b varied along the transect The results lead us to Interpret enzyme var~ation as the result of effects of neurotoxic compounds coming from the Elbe and Weser rlvers into the German B~g h t and validate cholinesterase activlty as a tool for biological monltonng at sea O Inter-Research 1992