Mercury is a global pollutant that is released into our environment by natural and anthropogenic processes resulting in extensive studies of mercury cycling in aquatic ecosystems, and the issuance of human-health-based fish-consumption advisories. We examined total mercury concentrations in Walleye Sander vitreus from Upper and Lower Red Lakes, located in north central Minnesota, between 2019 and 2020. Sampled Walleye (n = 265) ranged from 158 to 610 mm in total length from an age range of young-of-the year to 16 years. Mercury concentrations within the Walleye ranged from 0.030 mg/kg to 0.564 mg/kg (x̄ = 0.179 ± 0.105 mg/kg; x̄ = mean ± sd, all fish-mercury concentrations expressed on wet-weight basis). The best supported model for predicting mercury concentrations in Red Lake Walleye included the independent variables: length, age, sex, and lake basin. This model indicated that there was a significant difference in mercury concentrations between Upper and Lower Red Lake (x̄ = 0.215 ± 0.117 and 0.144 ± 0.077 mg/kg, respectively), and also suggests that individuals who rely on fish for subsistence should target Walleye that are ≤ 400 mm from Lower Red Lake. Observed differences in mercury concentrations could be linked to wetland area influences, fish growth rates, and physicochemical parameters between the two basins. Given that our results illustrated a significant difference in fish-mercury concentrations between basins, future pollutant monitoring efforts should treat Upper and Lower Red Lake as separate lakes and not assume that data from one basin can apply to the other.

汞是一种全球污染物，通过自然和人为过程释放到我们的环境中，导致人们对水生生态系统中的汞循环进行了广泛的研究，并发布了基于人类健康的鱼类消费建议。我们检测了2019 年至 2020 年间来自明尼苏达州中北部上红湖和下红湖的斑眼斑眼鱼玻璃体中的总汞浓度。样本斑眼斑眼斑眼鱼 ( n  = 265) 的总长度范围为 158 至 610 毫米，年龄范围为年轻-年度最佳至 16 岁。白眼鱼内的汞浓度范围为 0.030 mg/kg 至 0.564 mg/kg（x̄ = 0.179 ± 0.105 mg/kg；x̄ = 平均值 ± 标准差，所有鱼汞浓度均以湿重为基础表示）。用于预测红湖斑眼鱼汞浓度的最佳支持模型包括自变量：长度、年龄、性别和湖盆。该模型表明，上红湖和下红湖之间的汞浓度存在显着差异（x̄分别 = 0.215 ± 0.117 和 0.144 ± 0.077 mg/kg），并且还表明依赖鱼类为生的个体应该以白眼斑眼鱼为目标距下红湖 ≤ 400 毫米。观察到的汞浓度差异可能与湿地面积影响、鱼类生长率和两个流域之间的物理化学参数有关。鉴于我们的结果表明流域之间鱼类汞浓度存在显着差异，未来的污染物监测工作应将上红湖和下红湖视为单独的湖泊，而不是假设一个流域的数据适用于另一流域。