Dataset Information

Arsenic bioaccumulation in subarctic fishes of a mine-impacted bay on Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.

ABSTRACT: A subarctic fish community in mine-impacted Yellowknife Bay (Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada) was investigated for biological and ecological processes controlling arsenic bioaccumulation. Total concentrations of arsenic, antimony, and metals were measured in over 400 fishes representing 13 species, and primary producers and consumers were included to characterize food web transfer. Yellowknife Bay had slightly more arsenic in surface waters (~3 ?g/L) relative to the main body of Great Slave Lake (<1 ?g/L), resulting in two-fold higher total arsenic concentrations in muscle of burbot (Lota lota), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), and northern pike (Esox lucius). Other mining-associated contaminants, specifically antimony, lead, and silver, were typically below analytical detection in those fish species. No evidence was found for enhanced bioaccumulation of arsenic in long-lived, slow-growing subarctic fishes. Food web biodilution of total arsenic occurred between primary producers, aquatic invertebrates, and fish, although trophic position did not explain arsenic concentrations among fishes. Pelagic-feeding species had higher total arsenic concentrations compared to littoral fishes. Arsenic accumulated in subarctic fishes to comparable levels as fishes from lakes around the world with similar water arsenic concentrations. This first comprehensive study for a subarctic freshwater food web identified the importance of water exposure, biodilution, and habitat-specific feeding on arsenic bioaccumulation.

SUBMITTER: Chetelat J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6707560 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Arsenic bioaccumulation in subarctic fishes of a mine-impacted bay on Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Chételat John J Cott Peter A PA Rosabal Maikel M Houben Adam A McClelland Christine C Belle Rose Elise E Amyot Marc M

PloS one 20190823 8

A subarctic fish community in mine-impacted Yellowknife Bay (Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada) was investigated for biological and ecological processes controlling arsenic bioaccumulation. Total concentrations of arsenic, antimony, and metals were measured in over 400 fishes representing 13 species, and primary producers and consumers were included to characterize food web transfer. Yellowknife Bay had slightly more arsenic in surface waters (~3 μg/L) relative to the main body of ...[more]

PMID: 31442230

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Project description:Remote polar and deepwater fish faunas are under pressure from ongoing climate change and increasing fishing effort. However, these fish communities are difficult to monitor for logistic and financial reasons. Currently, monitoring of marine fishes largely relies on invasive techniques such as bottom trawling, and on official reporting of global catches, which can be unreliable. Thus, there is need for alternative and non-invasive techniques for qualitative and quantitative oceanic fish surveys. Here we report environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of seawater samples from continental slope depths in Southwest Greenland. We collected seawater samples at depths of 188-918 m and compared seawater eDNA to catch data from trawling. We used Illumina sequencing of PCR products to demonstrate that eDNA reads show equivalence to fishing catch data obtained from trawling. Twenty-six families were found with both trawling and eDNA, while three families were found only with eDNA and two families were found only with trawling. Key commercial fish species for Greenland were the most abundant species in both eDNA reads and biomass catch, and interpolation of eDNA abundances between sampling sites showed good correspondence with catch sizes. Environmental DNA sequence reads from the fish assemblages correlated with biomass and abundance data obtained from trawling. Interestingly, the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) showed high abundance of eDNA reads despite only a single specimen being caught, demonstrating the relevance of the eDNA approach for large species that can probably avoid bottom trawls in most cases. Quantitative detection of marine fish using eDNA remains to be tested further to ascertain whether this technique is able to yield credible results for routine application in fisheries. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates that eDNA reads can be used as a qualitative and quantitative proxy for marine fish assemblages in deepwater oceanic habitats. This relates directly to applied fisheries as well as to monitoring effects of ongoing climate change on marine biodiversity-especially in polar ecosystems.

Dataset Information

Arsenic bioaccumulation in subarctic fishes of a mine-impacted bay on Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Publications

Arsenic bioaccumulation in subarctic fishes of a mine-impacted bay on Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Similar Datasets

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