Observations of bluegills fed selenium-contaminated Hexagenia nymphs collected from Belews Lake, North Carolina
Belews Lake, a 1563-ha reservoir in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, was impounded in the early 1970's to provide cooling water for a 2240 Mw coal-fired electric generating station. Hatchery-raised bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) fingerlings stocked in several net-isolated Belews Lake coves during 1979 experienced a rapid uptake of coal ash-associated trace elements, principally selenium, in skeletal muscle and visceral tissues. Generally, higher selenium concentrations and evidences of acute toxicity, including exophthalmos and extreme abdominal distention, were observed only among fish having unrestricted access to sediments and benthos. Bluegills which were caged above the sediments in the same coves, and presumably had less opportunity to feed on benthic organisms, concentrated selenium to a lesser degree. Those observations, in addition to information provided by inspection of fish stomach contents and tissue elemental analyses of fish and benthic macroinvertebrates, strongly implicate predation on contaminated benthos as an important pathway for selenium uptake and resulting toxicity to fish in Belews Lakes. However, direct experimental evidence relating levels of dietary selenium to toxic effects among warm water fish species is sparse. The present study was intended to document the occurrence of selenium toxicity in bluegills fed to satiation a diet consisting of a common benthic food organism found in Belews Lake.
- Research Organization:
- Duke Power Co., Huntersville, NC
- OSTI ID:
- 6279327
- Journal Information:
- Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States), Vol. 35:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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