Abstract
Meriç River Delta is located on the Edirne Province of Turkey and has an international importance. Gala and Sığırcı Lakes, which are the main lentic factors of the system, are located in the Meriç River Delta. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the some macro and micro element concentrations in fishes of Gala and Sığırcı Lakes from a statistical perspective by using Pearson Correlation Index (PCI) and Factor Analysis. For this purpose, sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) bioaccumulation levels in muscle, gill and liver tissues of Carassius gibelio (Bloch, 1782), Carassius carassius (Linnaeus, 1758), Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758), Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758, Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758), Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 living in both lakes were investigated and detected data were evaluated by using PCI and FA in order to determine the associated contaminants and effective factors on the biotic components of the basin. According to the results of PCI, significant correlations were recorded among the investigated elements at 0.05 and 0.01 significance levels. According to the results of FA, 3 factors, which were named as “Nutrient factor“, “Agricultural factor” and “Industrial factor”, explained 79% of the total variance.