Carbon, Nitrogen, and Mercury Isotope Evidence for the Biogeochemical History of Mercury in Hawaiian Marine Bottomfish

Environ Sci Technol. 2017 Dec 5;51(23):13976-13984. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04893. Epub 2017 Nov 22.

Abstract

The complex biogeochemical cycle of Hg makes identifying primary sources of fish tissue Hg problematic. To identify sources and provide insight into this cycle, we combined carbon (δ13C), nitrogen amino acid (δ15NPhe), and Hg isotope (Δ199Hg, Δ201Hg, δ202Hg) data for six species of Hawaiian marine bottomfish. Results from these isotopic systems identified individuals within species that likely fed from separate food webs. Terrestrial freshwater inputs to coastal sediments were identified as the primary source of tissue Hg in the jack species, Caranx ignobilis, which inhabit shallow marine ecosystems. Thus, coastal C. ignobilis were a biological vector transporting Hg from freshwater environments into marine ecosystems. Depth profiles of Hg isotopic compositions for bottomfish (excludung C. ignobilis) were similar, but not identical, to profiles for open-ocean pelagic fishes, suggesting that in both settings inorganic Hg, which was ultimately transformed to monomethylmercury (MeHg) and bioaccumulated, was dominantly from a single source. However, differences between pelagic fish and bottomfish profiles were attributable to mass-dependent fractionation in the benthos prior to incorporation into the food web. Results also confirmed that bottomfish relied, at least in part, on a benthic food web and identified the incorporation of deeper water oceanic MeHg sources into deeper water sediments prior to food web uptake and transfer.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbon*
  • Environmental Monitoring*
  • Fishes*
  • Food Chain
  • Hawaii
  • Mercury
  • Mercury Isotopes*
  • Methylmercury Compounds
  • Mosquito Vectors
  • Nitrogen*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical*

Substances

  • Mercury Isotopes
  • Methylmercury Compounds
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Carbon
  • Mercury
  • Nitrogen