Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant known to bioaccumulate in biota and biomagnify in food webs. Parasites occur in nearly every ecosystem and often interact in complex ways with other stressors that their hosts experience. Hepatozoon spp. are intraerythrocytic parasites common in snakes. The Florida green watersnake (Nerodia floridana) and the banded watersnake (Nerodia fasciata) occur syntopically in certain aquatic habitats in the Southeastern United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships among total mercury (THg) concentrations, body size, species, habitat type and prevalence and parasitemia of Hepatozoon spp. infections in snakes. In the present study, we sampled N. floridana and N. fasciata from former nuclear cooling reservoirs and isolated wetlands of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. We used snake tail clips to quantify THg and collected blood samples for hemoparasite counts. Our results indicate a significant, positive relationship between THg and snake body size in N. floridana and N. fasciata in both habitats. Average THg was significantly higher for N. fasciata compared to N. floridana in bays (0.22 ± 0.02 and 0.08 ± 0.006 mg/kg, respectively; p < 0.01), but not in reservoirs (0.17 ± 0.02 and 0.17 ± 0.03 mg/kg, respectively; p = 0.29). Sex did not appear to be related to THg concentration or Hepatozoon spp. infections in either species. We found no association between Hg and Hepatozoon spp. prevalence or parasitemia; however, our results suggest that species and habitat type play a role in susceptibility to Hepatozoon spp. infection.
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Data are available upon request from the corresponding author.
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Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive proposes only and does not imply endorsement by the United States Government. We would like to thank Matt Hamilton, Kaiya Cain, Alexis Korotasz, Caleigh Quick, Kip Callahan, Melissa Lech, Manette Tanelus, Demetrious Calloway, Kristopher Weekes, Heaven Tharp, and Kurt Buhlmann for their assistance in the field and in the lab. We thank Susan Blas for making this research possible. We also thank Angela Lindell for providing expertise and assistance with Hg analyses.
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This work was supported by National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates DBI Award 1460940, Area Completion Projects, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC, and the Greenville Zoo. This material is based on work supported by the Department of Energy under award numbers DE-FC09-07SR22506, DE-EM0004391, and DE- EM0005228 to the University of Georgia Research Foundation.
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TDT and MAP generated study and earned funding for project support. All authors collected data, processed animals, and assisted MKB with data collection/interpretation of results. MKB and DLH created, edited, and finalized Tables and Figures. MKB wrote the initial manuscript drafts and provided significant edits to analysis and writing. DLH provided significant edits to manuscript drafts and associated Figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Brown, M.K., Haskins, D.L., Pilgrim, M.A. et al. Mercury bioaccumulation and Hepatozoon spp. infections in two syntopic watersnakes in South Carolina. Ecotoxicology 33, 164–176 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-024-02736-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-024-02736-0