title: Accumulation of Mercury in The Tissues of the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) From Common Carp.
abstract: The aim of this work is to assess mercury content in the great cormorant in the Třeboň region pond systems (Czech Republic) in terms of its potential to accumulate mercury from common carp. Selected tissues samples were taken from 51 cormorants and 30 common carp. In the food chain the cormorant was found to have the potential to accumulate mercury, where the muscle total mercury was roughly 35 times higher compared to the total mercury content in the carp muscle as its food. A statistically significantly higher overall mercury content (p < 0.01) has been found in the kidney and liver (2.23 ± 0.30, 2.12 ± 0.22 mg/kg) compared to other tissues examined in cormorants. The proportion of muscle methylmercury in the total mercury content of the cormorant was within the range 64.3%-87.3%. The results can help us to gain a better understanding of how mercury is distributed and accumulated in the aquatic food chain.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic. H16423@vfu.cz.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kral
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blahova
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Doubkova
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farkova
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vecerek
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zdenka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Svobodova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism*; D002347:Carps / Q000378:metabolism*; D018153:Czech Republic; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D020387:Food Chain; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Fish musle; Food chain; Piscivorous birds; Total mercury