83
correlation between the levels of zinc in the eye and the size
(wet weight)
of the whole fish.
Statistical tests were con-
ducted for correlation between fish size and the concentration
of zinc in representative tissues from Rongelap and Kabelle
samples.
The results of these tests are summarized in Table 12.
The tests based on the parameters of an assumed normal distribution indicated a strong negative correlation
(rejection at the
l per cent level of the null hypothesis that there was no correlation) between the size of the fish and the concentration of
zinc in the eyes in the larger Rongelap sample,
correlation in the smaller Kabelle sample.
and a lack of
Tests of the liver
data indicated no significant correlation for either Rongelap
or Kabelle fish.
fish,
A muscle sample,
showed a strong
available from the Kabelle
(1 per cent significance) negative cor-
relation.
Non-parametric tests based on rank correlation
(Snedecor,
1956) were conducted for eye and muscle samples to
determine whether the skewness of the distributions would
affect the
decisions on rejection of the null hypotheses.
The results of these tests were parallel to the results of the
Parametric tests.
The reversal of the decisions about the cor-
relation of eye zinc concentration and fish weight between the
Rongelap and Kabelle samples casts doubt on the validity of
conclusions based on these statistics.