TY - JOUR

T1 - Squid beaks as a proxy for mercury concentrations in muscle of the giant warty squid Moroteuthopsis longimana

AU - Lopes-Santos, Sara

AU - Xavier, José C

AU - Seco, José

AU - Coelho, João P

AU - Hollyman, Philip R

AU - Pereira, Eduarda

AU - Phillips, Richard A

AU - Queirós, José P

N1 - Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2025/2/1

Y1 - 2025/2/1

N2 - Cephalopods play a major role in marine food webs as both predators and prey. Although most of the Hg in cephalopods is present in the muscle, most studies on its accumulation by predators are based on concentrations in beaks. Here, using upper and lower beaks and buccal masses of Moroteuthopsis longimana, we evaluated the relationship between Hg concentrations in different cephalopod tissues. Hg concentrations in muscle tissue (329.9 ± 166.4 ng.g-1 dw) were ≈100-fold higher than in different sections of the upper (3.5 ± 1.4 ng.g-1 dw) and lower (3.5 ± 1.0 ng.g-1 dw) beaks. A positive linear relationship was found between the Hg in the beak wing and in the muscle. Hg concentrations in the wing are therefore a useful proxy for the total Hg body burden, and their analysis provides a means of assessing the levels, transport and fate of Hg in marine ecosystems.

AB - Cephalopods play a major role in marine food webs as both predators and prey. Although most of the Hg in cephalopods is present in the muscle, most studies on its accumulation by predators are based on concentrations in beaks. Here, using upper and lower beaks and buccal masses of Moroteuthopsis longimana, we evaluated the relationship between Hg concentrations in different cephalopod tissues. Hg concentrations in muscle tissue (329.9 ± 166.4 ng.g-1 dw) were ≈100-fold higher than in different sections of the upper (3.5 ± 1.4 ng.g-1 dw) and lower (3.5 ± 1.0 ng.g-1 dw) beaks. A positive linear relationship was found between the Hg in the beak wing and in the muscle. Hg concentrations in the wing are therefore a useful proxy for the total Hg body burden, and their analysis provides a means of assessing the levels, transport and fate of Hg in marine ecosystems.

U2 - 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106841

DO - 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106841

M3 - Article

C2 - 39577373

VL - 204

SP - 106841

JO - Marine Environmental Research

JF - Marine Environmental Research

SN - 0141-1136

ER -