Table 5. — Comparison of total mercury content (ppm) of dorsal muscle tissue from swordfish by sex and by area. 









Fork 



length 



Total mercury content 







"t" for 



Area 



Month 



Number and 



Mean 



Range 



Mean 



Range 



Slope 



Correlation 



testing 







sex 



(cm) 



(cm) 



(ppm) 



(ppm) 





coefficient 



slope 



E. Grand Banks 



Aug 



7 Males 



152 



(136-178) 



1.39 



(0.7-1.9) 



0.02398 



0.757 



2.589* 



Grand Banks 



Aug 



32 Females 



170 



(128-212) 



1.42 



(0.9-2.1) 



0.006749 



0.637 



4.604** 



D. Sable- 



Sept 



9 Males 



148 



(127-170) 



1.09 



(0.7-1.4) 



0.007265 



0.543 



1.713 



Banquereau 





















Sable- 



Sept 



65 Females 



144 



( 74-247) 



1.07 



(0.1-1.8) 



0.007269 



0.417 



3.649** 



Banquereau 





















A. Bahamas- 



Feb- 



9 Males 



149 



(109-163) 



2.21 



(0.36-4.90) 



0.094809 



0.543 



1.709 



Caribbean 



Mar 



















Bahamas- 



Feb- 



5 Females 



146 



(110-224) 



1.58 



(0.41-4.36) 



0.03370 



0.990 



12.136** 



Caribbean 



Mar 



















*Significant at 0.90 level 



















"Significant at 0.95 leve! 



















major proportion of the diet of swordfish in that 

 particular area (Scott and Tibbo, 1974). This is espe- 

 cially true for fish larger than 160 cm, possibly be- 

 cause such fish feed deeper (Beckett, 1973). Squid, 

 the other relatively mercury-rich food species, also 

 appear to be more important in the diet of swordfish 

 from area E than from elsewhere, with the exception 

 of the adjacent part of area D (Scott and Tibbo, 

 1974). 



Mercury analyses are currently not available for 

 stomach contents of swordfish taken from area A, 

 while for area B data are insufficient for comment. 



Other Species 



The mercury content of the dorsal muscle of 12 

 other pelagic species (Table 2) was all high with the 



Table 6. — Total mercury content (ppm) of selected sword- 

 fish tissues. 





Number of 



Total mercury content 



Tissue 



samples 



Average 



Range 







(ppm) 



(ppm) 



Dorsal muscle 



210 



1.15 



0.05-4.90 



Red muscle 



32 



1.59 



0.12-5.36 



Abdominal muscle 



80 



1.10 



0.05-4.85 



Liver 



33 



3.00 



0.07-15.10 



Kidney 



33 



1.91 



0.09-8.63 



Heart 



33 



1.64 



0.17-5.38 



Brain 



22 



0.90 



0.11-1.54 



Gill 



43 



0.43 



0.11-1.54 



Vertebral disc 



43 



0.20 



0.03-0.57 



Stomach 



107 



0.50 



0.06-1.23 



Table 7. — Total mercury content (ppm) of selected tissues as percentage of total mercury content of the 

 dorsal muscle tissues. (Number of samples given in parentheses.) 





A 



B 





C 





D 



E 



Tissue 



Caribbean- 

 Bahamas 



Cape Hatteras- 

 Hudson Canyon 



George 





Browns to 

 Banquereau 



Grand Banks 





July 





Oct. 





Red muscle 



117 (14) 



139 (3) 



1 17 C 3) 





104 (2) 



112 ( 7) 



106 ( 3) 



Abdominal muscle 



87(15) 



87(3) 



94 ( 4) 





96(3) 



77 (25) 



74 (30) 



Liver 



263 (15) 



240(2) 



105 ( 3) 





86(2) 



106 ( 7) 



175 ( 3) 



Kidney 



145 (15) 



148 (3) 



82 ( 3) 





58(2) 



98 ( 7) 



208 ( 3) 



Heart 



116 (15) 



154 (3) 



114( 3) 





97(2) 



130 ( 7) 



117 ( 3) 



Brain 



62(1-) 



58 (3) 



— 





— 



— 



— 



Gill 



33(15) 



58 (1) 



29(15) 





20(2) 



30 ( 7) 



28 ( 3) 



Vertebral disc 



14(15) 



15(2) 



18 (14) 





5(2) 



14 ( 7) 



12 ( 3) 



Stomach 







52 (10) 







43 (64) 



40 (34) 



158 



