Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mercury Concentrations and Se:Hg Molar Ratios in Flyingfish (Exocoetus volitans) and Squid (Uroteuthis chinensis)

  • Published:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We measured total mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) concentrations as well as stable nitrogen (N) isotopic composition in flyingfish and squid muscle tissues from the eastern Indian Ocean and western South China Sea. The results showed that the mean Hg concentration in squid muscle from the western South China Sea was lower than that in the eastern Indian Ocean. The Hg concentrations in flyingfish and squid muscle samples were positively correlated with organism size (length and weight) and δ15N in all the study areas. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between Se and Hg in molar content of flyingfish and squid muscle from the western South China Sea. The Se:Hg molar ratio was significantly negative correlated with fish weight and δ15N, suggesting that the Se:Hg molar ratio decreases with the increase of fish size and trophic level in the food web.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmad NI, Noh MFM, Mahiyuddin WRW, Jaafar H, Ishak I, Azmi WNFW, Veloo Y, Hairi MH (2015) Mercury levels of marine fish commonly consumed in Peninsular Malaysia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:3672–3686

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amezcua F, Muro-Torres V, Soto-Jiménez MF (2015) Stable isotope analysis versus TROPH: a comparison of methods for estimating fish trophic positions in a subtropical estuarine system. Aquat Ecol 49(2):235–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atwell L, Hobson KA, Welch HE (1998) Biomagnification and bioaccumulation of mercury in an arctic marine food web: insights from stable nitrogen isotope analysis. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:1114–1121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belzile N, Chen YW, Gunn JM, Tong J, Alarie Y, Delonchamp T, Lang CY (2006) The effect of selenium on mercury assimilation by freshwater organisms. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 63:1–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J, Gochfeld M (2012) Selenium and mercury molar ratios in saltwater fish from New Jersey: individual and species variability complicate use in human health fish consumption advisories. Environ Res 114:12–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burger J, Jeitner C, Donio M, Pittfield T, Gochfeld M (2013) Mercury and selenium levels, and selenium: mercury molar ratios of brain, muscle and other tissues in bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) from New Jersey, USA. Sci Total Environ 443:278–286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bustamante P, Grigioni S, Boucher-Rodoni R, Caurant F, Miramand P (2000) Bioaccumulation of 12 trace elements in the tissues of the nautilus Nautilus macromphalus from New Caledonia. Mar Pollut Bull 40(8):688–696

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell LM, Balirwa JS, Dixon DG, Hecky RE (2004) Biomagnification of mercury in fish from Thruston Bay, Napoleon Gulf, Lake Victoria (East Africa). Afr J Aquat Sci 29:91–96

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YW, Belzile N, Gunn JM (2001) Antagonistic effect of selenium on mercury assimilation by fish populations near Sudbury metal smelters. Limnol Oceanogr 46:1814–1818

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cuvin-Aralar MLA, Furness RW (1991) Mercury and selenium interaction: a review. Ecotoxicol Environ Safe 21:348–364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis JA, Greenfield BK, Ichikawa G, Stephenson M (2008) Mercury in sport fish from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, California, USA. Sci Total Environ 391:66–75

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dorea JG, Moreira MB, East G, Barbosa AC (1998) Selenium and mercury concentrations in some fish species of the Madeira River, Amazon Basin, Brazil. Biol Trace Elem Res 65:211–220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ganther HE, Goudie C, Sunde ML, Kopecky MJ, Wagner R, Sang-Hwang OH, Hoekstra WG (1972) Selenium relation to decreased toxicity of methylmercury added to diets containing tuna. Science 72:1122–1124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton SJ (2004) Review of selenium toxicity in the aquatic food chain. Sci Total Environ 326(1–3):1–31

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kehrig HA, Seixas TG, Malm O, Di Beneditto APM, Rezende CE (2013a) Mercury and selenium biomagnification in a Brazilian coastal food web using nitrogen stable isotope analysis: a case study in an area under the influence of the Paraiba do Sul River plume. Mar Pollut Bull 75:283–290

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kehrig HA, Seixas TG, Di Beneditto APM, Malm O (2013b) Selenium and mercury in widely consumed seafood from South Atlantic Ocean. Ecotoxicol Environ Safe 93:156–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lemes M, Wang F, Stern GA, Ostertag SK, Chan HM (2011) Methylmercury and selenium speciation in different tissues of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the western Canadian Arctic. Environ Toxicol Chem 30(12):2732–2738

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lemly AD (1993) Guidelines for evaluating selenium data from aquatic monitoring and assessment studies. Environ Monit Assess 28:83–100

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leonzio C, Focardi S, Bacci E (1982) Complementary accumulation of selenium and mercury in fish muscle. Sci Total Environ 24:249–254

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lima APS, Sarkis JES, Shihomatsu HM, Müller RCS (2005) Mercury and selenium concentrations in fish samples from Cachoeira do Piria Municipality, Para State, Brazil. Environ Res 97(3):236–244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu JL, Xu XR, Yu S, Cheng H, Peng JX, Hong YG, Feng XB (2014a) Mercury contamination in fish and human hair from Hainan Island, South China Sea: implication for human exposure. Environ Res 135:42–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu JL, Xu XR, Yu S, Cheng H, Hong Y, Feng XB (2014b) Mercury pollution in fish from South China Sea: levels, species-specific accumulation, and possible sources. Environ Res 131:160–164

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nie YG, Liu XD, Sun LG, Emslie SD (2012) Effect of penguin and seal excrement on mercury distribution in sediments from the Ross Sea region, East Antarctica. Sci Total Environ 433:132–140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ohlendorf HM (2003) Ecotoxicology of selenium. Handb Ecotoxicol 2: 465–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Pařízek J, Ošťádalová I (1967) The protective effect of small amounts of selenite in sublimate intoxication. Experientia 23:142–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier E (1986) Mercury–selenium interactions in aquatic organisms: a review. Mar Environ Res 18:111–132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson SA, Ralston NV, Whanger PD, Oldfield JE, Mosher WD (2009a) Selenium and mercury interactions with emphasis on fish tissue. Environ Bioindic 4(4):318–334

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson SA, Ralston NV, Peck DV, Sickle JV, Robertson JD, Spate VL, Morris JS (2009b) How might selenium moderate the toxic effects of mercury in stream fish of the western US? Environ Sci Technol 43(10):3919–3925

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce GJ, Stowasser G, Hastie LC, Bustamante P (2008) Geographic, seasonal and ontogenetic variation in cadmium and mercury concentrations in squid (Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea) from UK waters. Ecotoxicol Environ Safe 70(3):422–432

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Post DM (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83(3):703–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seixas TG, Moreira I, Malm O, Kehrig HA (2012) Mercury and selenium in a top-predator fish, Trichiurus lepturus (Linnaeus, 1758), from the Tropical Brazilian Coast, Rio de Janeiro. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 89(2):434–438

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seixas TG, Moreira I, Siciliano S, Malm O, Kehrig HA (2014) Differences in methylmercury and inorganic mercury biomagnification in a tropical marine food web. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 92:274–278

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Squadrone S, Benedetto A, Brizio P, Prearo M, Abete MC (2015) Mercury and selenium in European catfish (Silurus glanis) from Northern Italian Rivers: can molar ratio be a predictive factor for mercury toxicity in a top predator? Chemosphere 119:24–30

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sukramongkol N, Tsuchiya K, Segawa S (2007) Age and maturation of Loligo duvauceli and L. chinensis from Andaman Sea of Thailand. Rev Fish Biol Fish 17(2–3):237–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu LB, Liu XD, Fu PQ, Xu LQ, Li DN, Li YL (2017a) Dietary change in seabirds on Guangjin Island, South China Sea, over the past 1200 years inferred from stable isotope analysis. Holocene 27:331–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu LB, Xu LQ, Sun J, Wang XY, Wei YY, Li YL, Liu XD (2017b) Correlation of δ13C and δ15N in flying fish (Exocoetus volitans) muscle and scales from the South China Sea. Oceanol Hydrobiol Stud 46:307–313

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu LQ, Liu XD, Jiang S (2014) Late-Holocene seabird palaeodietary record from Ganquan Island, South China Sea. Quat Int 333:139–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41376124, 41576183 and 41776188). We are especially grateful to Pingqing Fu and Shengjie Hou for their help in stable isotope analyses. We deeply thank the open scientific expedition cruise to eastern Indian Ocean in 2014 and western South China Sea in 2015 funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Xisha Deep Sea Marine Environment Observation and Research Station, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liqiang Xu, Daning Li, Jichun Tang and Min Guo are acknowledged and thanked for their help in sample collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Xueying Wang, Libin Wu, Yangyang Wei, Yongli Zhou, Zixuan Rao & Xiaodong Liu

  2. Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Global Change, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Xueying Wang, Libin Wu, Yangyang Wei, Yongli Zhou, Zixuan Rao & Xiaodong Liu

  3. School of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Jing Sun

  4. Jiangsu Bio-Engineering Research Centre for Selenium, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Linxi Yuan

Authors
  1. Xueying Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Libin Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jing Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yangyang Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yongli Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zixuan Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Linxi Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Xiaodong Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaodong Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, X., Wu, L., Sun, J. et al. Mercury Concentrations and Se:Hg Molar Ratios in Flyingfish (Exocoetus volitans) and Squid (Uroteuthis chinensis). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 101, 42–48 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2369-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2369-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation