Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a viabilidade de uso de tecidos da espécie Leptodactylus ocellatus(Anura Leptodactylidae) como um bioindicador de poluição por metais. O estudo baseia-se na determinação e correlação das concentrações de manganês, crômio, zinco, níquel, cobre e ferro em sedimentos e tecidos (peles, músculos e vísceras) da rã Leptodactylus ocellatus coletadas na região do médio Rio das Contas, no leste da Bahia. Os mais altos níveis dos metais estudados foram encontrados nas vísceras deste animal. Neste tecido, altas correlações das concentrações destes metais com aquelas encontrados nos sedimentos foram observadas. As concentrações dos elementos encontrados na pele e músculos destes anfíbios não revelaram correlação com os sedimentos onde estes foram coletados. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, as vísceras da espécie L. ocellatus se constituem um bom indicador de contaminação pelos metais estudados.

This paper presents a study on the viability of the use of tissues of the Leptodactylus ocellatus species (Anura Leptodactylidae) as a bioindicator of metal pollution. The study is based on the determination and correlation of the concentrations of manganese, chromium, zinc, nickel, copper and iron in sediments and tissues (skin, muscles and viscera) of the frog Leptodactylus ocellatus collected in the middle region of the Contas River in Bahia, Brazil. The highest levels of the metals studied were found in the viscera of this animal. In this tissue, a higher correlation of the concentration of these metals with those found in sediments was also observed. The concentrations of elements found in the skin and muscles of these amphibians have revealed no correlation with the sediment where they were collected. According to the results obtained, the viscera of the L. ocellatus species presents itself as a good bioindicator of contamination by the metals studied.

The association between carcass and ham traits in a pig population used to produce dry-cured ham was studied using canonical correlation analysis. The carcass traits examined were hot carcass weight (HCW), backfat thickness (BT) and loin depth (LD), and the ham traits studied were gross ham weight (GHW), trimmed ham weight (THW), ham inner layer fat thickness (HIFT), ham outer layer fat thickness (HOFT), pH (pH) and the Göfo value. Carcass and ham traits are not independent. The canonical correlations (r) between the carcass and ham traits at 130 kg were 0.77, 0.24 and 0.20 for the first, second and third canonical pair, respectively, and were all significant (p < 0.01) by the Wilks test. The corresponding canonical correlations between the three canonical variate pairs for the carcass and ham traits at 160 kg were 0.88, 0.42 and 0.14, respectively (p < 0.05 for all, except the third). The correlations between the traits and their canonical variate showed an association among HCW, GHW and THW, and between BT and HOFT. These results indicate that carcass traits should be used to cull pigs that are not suitable for dry-cured ham production.