in global fallout debris ,23 it has not been detected elsewhere as a component of any waste discharged to aquatic environments from nuclear facilities. Most striking was the range of concentrations found in tissues and organs among different species of fish collected at the same time and place (see Appendix). For three species of reef fish, mullet, surgeonfish, and parrotfish, 20781 in most parts of the fish was usually below detection limits by gamma spectrometry. However, the radionuclide was consistently detected in the muscle and other organs of goatfish and the pelagic lagoon fish. Over 70% of the whole-body activity of 20781 in goatfish and pelagic fish is associated with the muscle tissue, whereas less than 5% (when detected) is found in the muscle of mullet and surgeonfish. Between 1977 and 1984, the concentrations in goatfish muscle ranged from a high of 1360 pCi/kg wet weight to a low of 17 pCi/kg wet weight, with the lowest levels found in fish collected from the eastern reef of the lagoon. There was no clear trend in the data to indicate that the concentration of 297Bi in the muscle of goatfish was changing with time at some constant rate. At B-1 and B-5, for example, the levels in muscle tissue were significantly less during the period of 1981-1983, compared to the concentrations measured in 1978. On the other hand, at B-6 and B-12, the concentrations measured in the muscle tissue of goatfish collected in 1984 were no different than the concentrations detected in 1978. TRANSURANIUM RADIONUCLIDES IN FISH Several reports on the concentrations of the transuranium elements in Bikini fish have been published by this laboratory.9»!0,24 Only. previously unpublished results and a few highlights from published data wil] be discusse in this report. The data in Table 6 show that both 239+240py and 24lam are not significantly accumulated in the muscle tissue of any species of fish. Less than 1% of the total body burden of both 239+240py and 24lam is associated with the muscle tissue of all reef species. Somewhat higher fractions, but lower concentrations, were found associated with muscle species. tissue of pelagic The distributions of 239+240py and 24!Am among the other tissues o the reef and pelagic species are also different. For example, the bone and skin of reef fish contain much less of the total body burden than that of : 5000572 18