title: Mercury concentrations in commercial fish species of Lake Phewa, Nepal.
abstract: Mercury (Hg) concentrations in four commercial fish species (Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, Spiny Eel Mastacembelus armatus, African catfish Clarias gariepinus, and Sahar Tor putitora), were investigated in Lake Phewa, Nepal. Mean values of total mercury (THg mg kg(-1), ww) in these fishes were 0.02, 0.07, 0.05, and 0.12 respectively. Methylmercury contributed 82 % of THg. The lowest value was detected in O. niloticus, an exclusive plant feeder. The biomagnification rate of Hg through the fish community was 0.041 per δ(15)N (‰). The present investigation produced an important baseline data of Hg pollution in the fish community in this region.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China. chhatra.sharma@gmail.com
authors.forename: Chhatra Mani
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Basnet
authors.forename: Shichang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Bjørn Olav
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Rosseland
authors.forename: Qianggong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Reidar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borgstrøm
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wen-Xiong
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hans-Christian
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Teien
authors.forename: Subodh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D020387:Food Chain; D060106:Lakes; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D009390:Nepal; D013045:Species Specificity; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury