Mercury Concentrations in Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) Collected from Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nye County, Nevada

Authors

Shawn Goodchild, United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceFollow
Shawn Gerstenberger, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Publication Title

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Volume

60

Issue

3

First page number:

496

Last page number:

500

Abstract

Mercury is a known neurotoxin and contaminant of concern worldwide. Mercury may occur at elevated concentrations adjacent to industrial sources, such as coal- fired power plants, or in remote environments and newly filled water bodies. Mercury tissue concentrations were determined for a sample of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from Crystal Reservoir, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nye County, Nevada. This investigation was triggered by (1) the presence of several conditions in soil and water that facilitate mercury bioaccumulation, (2) previous investigations that detected mercury in source springs, and (3) the presence of game fish and endangered pupfish within the reservoir. Mercury concentrations were significantly correlated with both fish mass and condition, but were lower than national human health and safety standards. It is possible that high pH and salinity inhibited methylation and subsequent bioaccumulation; however, additional studies are needed to determine causation of the low concentration in fish tissue compared with ambient conditions.

Keywords

Fishes – Mercury content; Largemouth bass; Micropterus salmoides; Nevada – Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

Disciplines

Aquaculture and Fisheries | Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Sciences | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology | Toxicology

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

Repository Citation

Goodchild, S., Gerstenberger, S. (2010). Mercury Concentrations in Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) Collected from Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nye County, Nevada. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 60(3), 496-500.