title: Mercury in indigenous, introduced and farmed fish from the semiarid region of the Jaguaribe river Basin, NE Brazil.
abstract: Indigenous, introduced and farmed fish species were collected from the Jaguaribe Basin, NE Brazil to assess total and methyl mercury concentrations in muscle tissue and to determine its relationship with fish origin. The results obtained from introduced species were compared to the Hg content of their original area of occurrence, which is located in the Amazon region. Farmed and wild individuals of Oreochromis niloticus (tilapia) were also compared. Introduced species presented lower Hg contents compared to their Amazonian counterparts. Wild individuals of O. niloticus also presented higher Hg contents than farmed individuals with similar sizes. However, methyl Hg concentrations were not significantly different between the two groups. Total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations were higher in carnivorous species, especially those from the Amazon region, and surpassed the Brazilian guidelines for fish consumption. Based on their Hg content, Jaguaribe basin fish do not pose a significant threat to human consumption.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biogeoquímica Costeira, Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Av. Abolição 3207, Fortaleza, CE, 60165-081, Brazil, ldrude@pq.cnpq.br.
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Lacerda
authors.forename: B G B C
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bezerra
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Bastos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D023681:Cichlids; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury