title: Mercury in the sea turtle Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1958) from Ceará coast, NE Brazil.
abstract: Mercury concentrations in carapace fragments of the green turtle Chelonia mydas from the Ceará coast in NE Brazil are reported. Concentrations varied from <0.34 to 856.6 ng.g(-1) d.w., and were highest (average of 154.8 ng.g(-1) d.w.) in juveniles (n = 22), whereas lowest concentrations (average of 2.5 ng.g(-1) d.w.) were observed in adult/sub-adult animals (n = 3). There was a significant negative correlation between animal size and Hg concentration probably due to different diets between juveniles and sub-adults/adults. Carapace fragments, which are non-invasive, non-lethal substrates, may be of importance for monitoring purposes of these generally endangered species.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biogeoquímica Costeira, Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Moisés F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bezerra
authors.forename: Luiz D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Lacerda
authors.forename: Breno G B
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Eduardo H S M
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Lima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D014426:Turtles; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury