Snapping turtles (chelydra serpentina) as monitors for mercury contamination of aquatic environments

摘要

We assessed the distribution of mercury in snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina ) by analyzing front shoulder muscle, back leg muscle, tail muscle, blood, liver, and marginal carapacial scute (shell) of 26 adult turtles from five small lakes. Total mercury concentration in muscle ranged from 50 to 500 ng g~-1 wet weight and was highly correlated among the three tissue locations. There was no relationship between muscle mercury concentration and body size. Mercury concentration in blood was similar to muscle; the correlation with muscle mercury concentration was significant but there was some variability.