Mercury burden in round goby and yellow perch in relation to riparian wetlands of the Upper St. Lawrence River

Lawrence River to examine mercury concentration differences between habitat types. Mercury levels were significantly (p < 0.01) higher in fish collected at wetlands than those collected from non-wetland habitats for both yellow perch and round goby.

Perch had mercury concentrations of 74.5 ± 35.4 ng/g dry wt in wetlands compared to 59.9 ± 23.0 ng/g dry wt in non-wetlands. Goby had mercury concentrations of 55.4 ± 13.8 ng/g dry wt in wetlands and non-wetland concentrations of 41.0 ± 14.0 ng/g dry wt.