Trophic influences on mercury accumulation in top pelagic predators from offshore New England waters of the northwest Atlantic Ocean

• Published in: Marine environmental research Vol. 101; pp. 124 - 134
• Main Authors: Teffer, Amy K., Staudinger, Michelle D., Taylor, David L., Juanes, Francis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Alopias vulpinus; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Atlantic Ocean; Bioaccumulation; Biological and medical sciences; Body Size; Concentration (composition); Coryphaena hippurus; Dolphinfish; Food Chain; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Isurus oxyrinchus; Marine; Mercury (metal); Mercury - metabolism; Northwest; Northwest Atlantic ocean; Offshore; Offshore engineering; Predatory Behavior; Sea water ecosystems; Sharks; Sharks - metabolism; Stable isotopes; Synecology; Teleostei; Thunnus alalunga; Thunnus albacares; Total mercury; Trophic transfer; Tuna - metabolism; Tunas; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; United States; North America; Atlantic Ocean; Massachusetts; Northwest Atlantic; America; ANW, USA, New England; ANW, Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic ocean; Total mercury; Bioaccumulation; Stable isotopes; Sharks; Tunas; Dolphinfish; Trophic transfer; Trophic factor; Trophic Transfer; Trophic relation; Pelagic zone; Heavy metal; Marine environment; Vertebrata; Offshore; Pisces; New England; Predator; Biological accumulation; Chondrichthyes; Isotopes; Mercury
• ISSN: 0141-1136; 1879-0291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2014.09.008

Trophic pathways and size-based bioaccumulation rates of total mercury were evaluated among recreationally caught albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus), and dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) from offshore southern New England waters of the northwest Atlantic Ocean between 2008 and 2011. Mercury concentrations were highest in mako (2.65 ± 1.16 ppm) and thresher sharks (0.87 ± 0.71 ppm), and significantly lower in teleosts (albacore, 0.45 ± 0.14 ppm; yellowfin, 0.32 ± 0.09 ppm; dolphinfish, 0.20 ± 0.17 ppm). The relationship between body size and mercury concentration was positive and linear for tunas, and positive and exponential for sharks and dolphinfish. Mercury increased exponentially with δ 15N values, a proxy for trophic position, across all species. Results demonstrate mercury levels are positively related to size, diet and trophic position in sharks, tunas, and dolphinfish, and the majority of fishes exhibited concentrations greater than the US EPA recommended limit.
•Diet influences mercury accumulation in southern New England top predator fishes.•Muscle mercury content exceeded 0.3 ppm wet weight in 70% of individuals examined.•Mercury increased exponentially with δ 15N values, a proxy for trophic position.•Mercury content was positively related to prey size and dependence on teleost prey.•Dolphinfish size-specific accumulation rates were high relative to sharks and tunas.