Collaborators:  University of Michigan – Ecotoxicology Lab

 Tissue samples (including muscle, brain, and liver) are being collected and analyzed from a wide array of forage fish species, low-level predators, mid-level predators, and apex predators from Nantucket Sound in coastal New England and adjacent offshore waters of the U.S. Atlantic coast.  Species currently being examined are:

shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus)

common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus)

porbeagle (Lamna nasus)

smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis)

bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)

Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus)

mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia)

These results, coupled with data regarding diet and feeding ecology of these species, provide further insight into mercury bioaccumulation in the system.

We are also investigating selenium concentrations for these tissues as little is known about mercury-selenium interactions in marine fish, though selenium may counteract the toxicity of mercury.