Arsenic compounds in marine sponge (Haliclona permolis, Halichondria japonica, Halichondria okadai and Haliclona sp white) from Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Marine sponges were collected at Hire or Hatami, Hiroshima Prefecture, Aki Nada in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Arsenic compounds were extracted with methanol/water (1:1, v/v) from freeze-dried samples of the marine sponges Haliclona permolis, Halichondria japonica, Halichondria okadai and Haliclona sp, white. The extracts were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer serving as an arsenic-specific detector. Arsenobetaine 5 and the two arsenosugars as 6 and 7 were identified in all samples targeted, and these three compounds accounted for 74 to 96% of the water-soluble arsenic in all four species of sponge. Arsenosugar was the major arsenic species in all four species of sponge. The most abundant arsenic compound in ail four species of sponge was arsenosugar 7, and arsenosugar 6 was only a minor component. The arsenobetaine and arsenosugar concentrations were considerably higher in the three sponges from demospongiae (H. permolis, H. japonica and H. okadai) compared with the single species from calcispongiae (Haliclona sp, white). Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.