Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations measured across 10 tissues of the longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox) collected from the central and eastern North Pacific between 2018 and 2023

Abstract

This dataset contains total mercury and methylmercury concentrations measured across 10 tissues (brain, caudal white muscle, dorsal white muscle, gallbladder, gill filament, gonad, heart, intestine, liver, and stomach lining) of a globally distributed deep-sea fish, the longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox). Lancetfish specimens were collected by fisheries observers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Region and West Coast Region Observer Programs from 2018 to 2023 between 20 – 40° N and 115 – 160° W in the central and eastern North Pacific Ocean. The data were used to examine patterns of mercury bioaccumulation in lancetfish and evaluate the use of lancetfish as a biomonitoring species of mercury in the deep sea.

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/948929