Mercury Concentrations in Quagga Mussels, Dreissena bugensis, from Lakes Mead, Mohave and Havasu

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Publication Title

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Volume

84

Issue

4

First page number:

497

Last page number:

501

Abstract

The recent invasion of the Dressenid species, the quagga mussel, Dreissena bugensis, into Lakes Mead, Mohave and Havasu has raised questions about their ability to alter contaminant cycling. Mussels were collected from 25 locations in the three lakes. The overall average was 0.036 ± 0.016 μg g−1 Hg dry wt. The range of the three lakes was from 0.014–0.093 μg g−1 Hg dry wt. There were no significant differences in mercury concentrations among the three lakes (F = 0.07; p = 0.794). From this baseline data of contaminants in quagga mussels from the lower Colorado River, this species may be used to biomonitor lake health.

Keywords

Environmental monitoring; Introduced aquatic organisms; Invasive species; Lower Colorado river; Mercury; North America – Colorado River; Quagga mussel; United States – Lake Havasu; United States – Lake Mead; United States – Lake Mohave

Disciplines

Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Monitoring | Environmental Sciences | Toxicology | Water Resource Management

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

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