Abstract Fish skeletal muscle is often used to monitor mercury concentrations and is used by regulatory agencies to develop fish consumption advisories. However, the distribution of mercury species (MeHg+ and THg) in muscle tissue and other organs is not well understood in a number of fish species. Here we evaluate the spatial distribution of THg and MeHg+ in skeletal muscle and internal organs (heart, liver, and kidney) of 19 sculpin representing three species: Myoxocephalus scorpius (shorthorn sculpin n = 13), Myoxocephalus jaok (plain sculpin, n = 4), and Megalocottus platycephalus (belligerent sculpin, n = 2). Four subsamples of muscle were taken along the lateral aspect of each fish, from muscle A (cranial) to muscle D (caudal). Using Games–Howell post hoc procedure to compare mean concentrations of all tissues, muscle samples were significantly different from internal organs, although there was no difference between muscle-sampling locations. THg concentrations (ww) were higher in muscle (muscle A through D mean ± SD, 0.30 ± 0.19 mg/kg) than that in heart (0.06 ± 0.05 mg/kg), kidney (0.08 ± 0.06 mg/kg), and liver (0.09 ± 0.08 mg/kg). Percent MeHg+ decreased with age in both skeletal muscle and organs (p < 0.05). In contrast to some previous reports for other fish species, this study found significantly higher THg concentrations in muscle than in the liver. This study highlights the importance of using muscle samples when evaluating potential Hg exposure in risk assessments for piscivorous wildlife and human populations, and assumptions related to organ mercury concentrations should be examined with care.

中文翻译：

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白令海杜父父鱼组织中汞和甲基汞的分布


摘要 鱼类骨骼肌通常用于监测汞浓度，并被监管机构用来制定鱼类消费建议。然而，许多鱼类的肌肉组织和其他器官中的汞（MeHg+ 和 THg）分布尚不清楚。在这里，我们评估了代表三个物种的 19 种杜父鱼骨骼肌和内脏（心脏、肝脏和肾脏）中 THg 和 MeHg+ 的空间分布：Myoxocephalus scorpius（短角杜父鱼 n = 13）、Myoxocephalus jaok（普通杜父鱼，n = 4） ) 和 Megalocottus platycephalus（好战杜父鱼，n = 2）。沿着每条鱼的侧面采集四个肌肉子样本，从肌肉 A（头部）到肌肉 D（尾部）。使用 Games-Howell 事后程序比较所有组织的平均浓度，肌肉样本与内脏器官显着不同，尽管肌肉采样位置之间没有差异。肌肉中的 THg 浓度（ww）（肌肉 A 至 D 平均值 ± SD，0.30 ± 0.19 mg/kg）高于心脏（0.06 ± 0.05 mg/kg）、肾脏（0.08 ± 0.06 mg/kg）和肝脏（0.09±0.08 毫克/千克）。骨骼肌和器官中的 MeHg+ 百分比随着年龄的增长而下降 (p < 0.05)。与之前对其他鱼类的一些报告相比，这项研究发现肌肉中的 THg 浓度明显高于肝脏中的 THg 浓度。这项研究强调了在对食鱼野生动物和人类进行风险评估时使用肌肉样本的重要性，并且应仔细检查与器官汞浓度相关的假设。