Register      Login
Environmental Chemistry Environmental Chemistry Society
Environmental problems - Chemical approaches
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > EN > EN08017
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 5(3)

Assessment of caudal fin clip as a non-lethal technique for predicting muscle tissue mercury concentrations in largemouth bass

S. A. Ryba A C , J. L. Lake A , J. R. Serbst A , A. D. Libby B and S. Ayvazian A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory – Atlantic Ecology Division, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 27 Tarzwell Dr., Narragansett, RI 02882, USA.

B Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife, PO Box 218, West Kingston, RI 02892, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: ryba.stephan@epa.gov

Environmental Chemistry 5(3) 200-203 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN08017
Submitted: 20 February 2008  Accepted: 30 April 2008   Published: 19 June 2008

Environmental context. In the development of fish consumption advisories, fisheries biologists routinely sacrifice fish and analyse muscle fillets in order to determine the extent of mercury contamination. Such lethal techniques may not be suitable for endangered species or limited fish populations from smaller-sized water bodies. We compared the measured total mercury concentrations in tail fin clips to that of muscle fillets and illustrated that tail fin clips may be used as an accurate tool for predicting mercury in muscle tissue. This is the first study on the use of tail fin clips to predict mercury levels in the muscle tissue of largemouth bass with minimal impact on the fish.

Abstract. The statistical relationship between total mercury (Hg) concentration in clips from the caudal fin and muscle tissue of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from 26 freshwater sites in Rhode Island, USA was developed and evaluated to determine the utility of fin clip analysis as a non-lethal and convenient method for predicting mercury concentrations in tissues. The relationship of total Hg concentrations in fin clips and muscle tissue showed an r2 of 0.85 and may be compared with an r2 of 0.89 for Hg concentrations between scales and muscle tissue that was determined in a previous study on largemouth bass. The Hg concentration in fin clip samples (mean = 0.261 μg g–1 (dry)) was more than a factor of twenty greater than in the scale samples (mean = 0.012 μg g–1 (dry)). Therefore, fin clips may be a more responsive non-lethal predictor of muscle-Hg concentrations than scale in fish species which may have reduced Hg concentrations.

Additional keywords: bioavailability, largemouth bass, mercury, metals, non-lethal methods.


Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Jim Heltshe for assistance with statistical analysis. They also thank the field crew at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the USA Environmental Protection Agency. This report has been reviewed by the USA EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Division, Narragansett, Rhode Island, and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Agency.


References


[1]   US Environmental Protection Agency, Mercury study report to Congress, EPA-452/R-97-003 1997 (US EPA: Washington, DC).

[2]   H. A. Simonin , M. W. Meyer , Mercury and other air toxics in the Adirondack region of New York. Environ. Sci. Policy 1998 , 1,  199.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[3]   C. G. Gilmour , E. A. Henry , R. Mitchell , Sulfate stimulation of mercury methylation in freshwater sediments. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1992 , 26,  2281.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[4]   N. S. Bloom , On the chemical form of mercury in edible fish and marine invertebrate tissue. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1992 , 49,  1010.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[5]   T. W. Clarkson , Human health risks from methylmercury in fish. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1990 , 9,  957.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[6]   R. B. Yeardley , J. M. Lazorchak , S. G. Paulsen , Elemental fish tissue contamination in northeastern U.S. lakes: evaluation of approach to regional assessment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1998 , 17,  1875.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[7]   R. F. Baker , P. J. Blanchfield , M. J. Paterson , R. J. Flett , L. Wesson , Evaluation of nonlethal methods for the analysis of mercury in fish tissue. American Fisheries Society 2004 , 133,  568.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[8]   S. A. Peterson , J. V. Sickle , R. M. Hughes , J. A. Schacher , S. F. Echols , A biopsy procedure for determining filet and predicting whole-fish mercury concentration. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2004 , 48,  99.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[9]   P. T. Gremillion , J. V. Cizdziel , N. R. Cody , Caudal fin mercury as a non-lethal predictor of fish-muscle mercury. Environ. Chem. 2005 , 2,  96.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[10]   K. R. Rolfhus , M. B. Sandheinrich , J. G. Wiener , S. W. Bailey , C. R. Hammerschmidt , Analysis of fin clips as a nonlethal method for monitoring mercury in fish. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008 , 42,  871.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1

[11]   J. L. Lake , S. A. Ryba , J. R. Serbst , A. D. Libby , Mercury in fish scales as an assessment method for predicting muscle tissue mercury concentrations in largemouth bass. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2006 , 50,  539.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1

[12]   C. J. Schmitt , W. G. Brumbaugh , Evaluation of potentially nonlethal sampling methods for monitoring mercury concentrations in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu). Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2007 , 53,  84.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1

[13]   A. P. Ferrell , A. H. Hodaly , S. Wang , Metal analysis of scales taken from arctic grayling. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2000 , 39,  515.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1

[14]   M. G. Johnson , Metals in fish scales collected in Lake Opeongo, Canada, from 1939 to 1979. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 1989 , 118,  331.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |  open url image1

[15]   E. P. Foster , D. L. Drake , G. DiDomenico , Seasonal changes and tissue distribution of mercury in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from Dorea Reservoir, Oregon. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2000 , 38,  78.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1

[16]   C. J. Schmitt , S. E. Finger , The effects of sample preparation on the measured concentrations of eight elements in the edible tissues of fish contaminated by lead mining. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 1987 , 16,  185.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1

[17]   Keith L. H., Report results right. 1. Chemtech 1991 21(6), 352.

[18]   S. A. Peterson , D. V. Peck , J. Van Sickle , R. M. Hughes , Mercury concentration in frozen whole-fish homogenates is insensitive to holding time. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2007 , 53,  411.
        | Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |  open url image1