Leeches as indicators of dietary mercury exposure in non-piscivorous waterfowl in central Ontario, Canada

Abstract

We collected and analysed 113 leeches (Hirudinea) from 17 small lakes in the acid-stressed Muskoka region of central Ontario, Canada to examine the relationship between lake chemistry and mercury (Hg) concentrations in leeches, and thus determine whether leeches and other benthic invertebrates posed a dietary risk of Hg exposure for non-piscivorous waterfowl. Hg concentrations in leeches were generally low and only a few-fold above the detection limit (0.78 ng g −1 wet weight (ww)). Mean Hg concentration in the bloodsucker Macrobdella decora was 6.94 ± 0.78 SE ng g −1 ww ( n = 49) and was 5.98 ± 0.46 ng g −1 ww ( n = 64) in the scavenger Percymoorensis marmoratis. Leech Hg concentrations were correlated with calcium and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in the water, respectively. These data suggest that leeches are not suitable monitors of Hg (usually as methylmercury) biomagnification in central Ontario lakes, and do not pose a dietary risk to non-piscivorous waterfowl.