Form of mercury in stream fish exposed to high concentrations of dissolved inorganic mercury.

The form of mercury predominating in mercury-contaminated fish from both pristine and industrialized waters in North America and Europe has almost universally been methylmercury. Sunfish (Lepomis auritus) living in a stream contaminated with 0.5-1 micrograms/L dissolved inorganic mercury accumulated greater concentrations of total mercury at headwater sites, where the dissolved mercury concentrations were greatest, than they did at downstream sites. However, despite evidence from laboratory studies that dissolved inorganic mercury is rapidly accumulated by fish without transformation to methylmercury, methylmercury constituted 85% or more of the total mercury concentration in fish at all sites.