Mercury (Hg) and its derivatives pose a serious threat to the environment and human health. Thus, the development of methods for the selective and sensitive determination of Hg(2+) is very important to understand its distribution, and to implement more detailed toxicological studies. Herein, we developed a new method for the detection of Hg(2+) based on the tricyanoethylene derivative and mercaptoethanol. This method could selectively detect Hg(2+) in a 100% aqueous solution by the naked-eye within the range of 1 - 60 μM. Importantly, this method also could detect Hg(2+) quantitatively by ratiometic absorption spectroscopy in the range of 0.1 - 6 μM with a detection limit of 55 nM. We anticipate that this proposed method will be used widely to monitor Hg(2+) in the environment.