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Suitability of fish scales as archives of temporal variations in ambient mercury levels in estuaries

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Abstract

To examine the suitability of fish scales as a historical archive, of environmental mercury (Hg) contamination, we analyzed a collection of scales taken from striped bass (Morone saxatilis) captured in the St. Lawrence Estuary between 1994 and 1962. The total mass of Hg in individual scales increases linearly with the weight of the scale, suggesting that Hg is well preserved in the scale tissue. Age, length, and sex of specimens captured during the same year did not significantly influence the concentration of Hg in the scales. The average Hg concentrations in scales of specimens captured in 1956 (53.2 ±9.1 ng g−1) and 1962 (58.6±7.7 ng g−1) are nearly twice as high as in scales from 1951 (30.2±3.0 ng g−1). These results follow the trend revealed in sediment cores from the St. Lawrence Estuary. A high level of Hg in scales from 1945 (68.7±18.4 ng g−1) could have been caused by an episode of Hg contamination around 1945 not recorded in the sediment or by a diet-related change in Hg exposure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de la mer de Rimouski, Université du Québec a Rimouski, 310 Allée des Ursulines, G5L 3A1, Rimouski, Québec, Canada

    Christine Desjardins & Bjørn Sundby

  2. Centre Eau, Terre et Environment, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, 490 de la Couronne, G1K 9A9, Québec, Canada

    Charles Gobeil

  3. Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Ministere des Pêches et des Océans, 850 route de la Mer, C.P. 1000, G5H 3Z4, Ment-Joli, Canada

    Charles Gobeil

  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, H3A 2A7, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Bjørn Sundby

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  1. Christine Desjardins
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  2. Charles Gobeil
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  3. Bjørn Sundby
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Correspondence to Christine Desjardins.

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Desjardins, C., Gobeil, C. & Sundby, B. Suitability of fish scales as archives of temporal variations in ambient mercury levels in estuaries. Estuaries and Coasts: J ERF 29, 855–859 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02786536

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02786536

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