title: Mercury concentrations in recent and ninety-year-old benthopelagic fish.
abstract: Several species of bottom-dwelling fish from 2500 meters with similar feeding habits had mercury concentrations that differed by an order of magnitude. Within one species there was a correlation between size and concentration, with the larger individuals having mercury concentrations as high as 0.8 part per million (wet weight). The mercury content of the water in the deep-ocean habitat of these fish appears not to determine the mercury content of a particular fish; species-specific factors and size do appear to determine this concentration. The species-specific variation between the recent fish also existed between the same two species in specimens collected 90 years ago from a depth of 2000 meters, and a 90-year-old specimen fit closely the size-concentration regression curve for nine recent individuals of the same species.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury