Mercury concentrations in muscle tissue from sportfish in Lake Mead, Nevada

Figures & data

Figure 1 Lake Mead sampling locations.

Figure 2 Mean K factors [(W/L³)*100] of fish from Lake Mead by species and location in Lake Mead. Error bars indicate standard deviation of the mean.

Figure 3 Simple linear regression plots of length (cm) vs. 5 % trimmed mercury concentration (μg/g) for largemouth bass, striped bass, channel catfish and all species combined.

Table 1 Length–adjusted mean mercury concentrations by species and location.

Species	Location	n	Mean Hg (g/g)	Std. Error	Mean Length (cm)	Std. Dev.	Mean Weight (g)	Std. Dev.
Largemouth bass* (n = 49)
	Boulder Basin†	12	0.054	0.081	34.9	6.3	647	242
	Overton Arm	9	0.094	0.061	34.8	7.1	574	302
	Virgin Basin	11	0.085	0.084	37.7	11.7	837	1125
	Gregg Basin	17	0.100	0.070	31.5	4.7	443	309
Striped bass* (n = 94)
	Boulder Basin†	22	0.061	0.060	41.1	4.0	692	222
	Overton Arm	23	0.132	0.059	36.0	8.5	372	408
	Virgin Basin	28	0.135	0.054	34.5	7.6	302	167
	Gregg Basin	21	0.185	0.061	39.5	8.1	551	218
Channel catfish* (n = 78)
	Boulder Basin†	19	0.028	0.066	44.4	7.7	924	428
	Overton Arm	23	0.093	0.061	45.4	9.0	845	811
	Virgin Basin	17	0.073	0.068	40.4	5.9	530	350
	Gregg Basin	19	0.073	0.064	37.5	10.4	496	782
*The mean mercury concentration of each species differed significantly (p < 0.05) from each other species.
†The mean mercury concentration in Boulder Basin differed significantly from the means in Overton Arm (p < 0.001), Virgin Basin (p = 0.002), and Gregg Basin (p < 0.001).

Figure 4 Length– adjusted mean mercury concentrations (μg/g) in fish muscle tissue by species and location in Lake Mead. Error bars indicate standard deviation of the mean.