Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) as monitors for mercury contamination of aquatic environments

We assessed the distribution of mercury in snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) by analyzing front shoulder muscle, back leg muscle, tail muscle, blood, liver, and marginal carapacial scute (shell) of 26 adult turtles from five small lakes. Total mercury concentration in muscle ranged from 50 to500 ng g⁻¹ wet weight and was highly correlated among the three tissue locations. There was no relationship between muscle mercury concentration and body size. Mercury concentration in blood was similar to muscle; the correlation with muscle mercury concentration was significant but there was some variability. Mercury concentration in shell was much higher than in muscle or blood, ranging from 500 to 3300 ng g⁻¹, and was highly correlated with muscle mercury concentration. Liver mercury concentration was similar to shell, but was highly variable and uncorrelated with any other tissue. We conclude that snapping turtles accumulate mercury from their environment and may be useful monitors of mercury contamination.