Trace metals in fluid-preserved museum fish specimens

Abstract

This paper describes the effects of preservation on the trace metal levels in the larvae of four lamprey species, Petromyzon marinus, Ichthyomyzon fossor, I. unicuspis and Lampetra appendix, collected between 1946 and 1951 from three tributaries of the St. Lawrence River Basin, Québec. Contrary to most other studies on the subject, this study rejects the usefulness of using fluid-preserved museum fish specimens in retrospective monitoring of trace metal levels in the aquatic environment because the many sources of contamination cannot be accurately measured.