Life-history traits of two Salvelinus species and mercury concentrations in fish and prey in ten Canadian lakes (2006-2008) ...

• Main Authors: Swanson, Heidi K, Gantner, Nikolaus, Kidd, Karen A, Muir, Derek C G, Reist, James D
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2011
• Subjects: International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; International Polar Year; IPY; Kitikmeot; Nunavut; Salvelinus alpinus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.837319; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.837319

Mercury concentrations ([Hg]) in Arctic food fish often exceed guidelines for human subsistence consumption. Previous research on two food fish species, Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), indicates that anadromous fish have lower [Hg] than nonanadromous fish, but there have been no intraregional comparisons. Also, no comparisons of [Hg] among anadromous (sea-run), resident (marine access but do not migrate), and landlocked (no marine access) life history types of Arctic char and lake trout have been published. Using intraregional data from 10 lakes in the West Kitikmeot area of Nunavut, Canada, we found that [Hg] varied significantly among species and life history types. Differences among species-life history types were best explained by age-at-size and C:N ratios (indicator of lipid); [Hg] was significantly and negatively related to both. At a standardized fork length of 500 mm, lake trout had significantly higher [Hg] (mean 0.17 µg/g wet wt) than Arctic char (0.09 ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...