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<br />39.0 ~g/g in suckers, 25.8 to 50.0 ~g/g in carp, and 15.2 and 25.1 ~g/g in <br />green sunfish. The selenium concentrations in whole-body fish samples (about <br />15.2 to 50.0 ~g/g) were about 1,000 to 3,000 times greater than selenium con- <br />centrations in the water (15-17 ~g/L in July) at Sweitzer Lake, which indi- <br />cates that selenium is bioconcentrated through the food chain. Baumann and <br />Gillespie (1986) reported that bioaccumulation of selenium in bluegill <br />resulted in selenium concentrations 1,000 times higher in the ovaries of <br />bluegill than in the water from which the fish were collected. They suggest <br />that bluegills with a selenium concentration of about 7.94 ~g/g wet weight <br />(about 32 ~g/g dry weight) in their ovaries transferred this selenium to their <br />offspring, which resulted in larvae with edema. <br /> <br /> 55 <br />l/l <br />:2 50 <br /><( <br />a: <br />Cl 45 <br />0 <br />a: <br />Sit- 40 <br />:2I <br />zS1 35 <br />_w <br />z~ <br />0>- 30 <br />-a: <br />~o <br />0':2 25 <br />t-<( <br />Zoo <br />~Cl 20 <br />Zoo <br />Ow 15 <br />ull. <br />:2 '0 <br />::J <br />Z <br />w 5 <br />-' <br />w <br />l/l <br /> 0 <br /> <br />10 <br />'0 NUMBER OF <br /> SAMPLES <br />$ MAXIMUM <br />75TH PERCENTILE <br />MEDIAN <br />25TH PERCENTILE <br />MINIMUM <br /> <br />NATIONAL CONTAMINANT <br />/ BIQMONITOR1NG PROGRAM <br />85TH PERCENTILE <br />/ <br />/ B" <br /> <br />-g-6-~~(-f;J-8-0- <br /> <br />GUNNISON <br />RIVER <br />BELOW <br />GUNNISON <br />TUNNEl2 <br /> <br />GUNNISON <br />AIVER <br />AT <br />DELTA <br />3 <br /> <br />UNCOM. <br />PAHGRE <br />RIVER <br />AT <br />COLONA <br />4 <br /> <br />SWEITZER <br />LAKE <br />7 <br /> <br />UNCOM. GUNNISON <br />PAHGRE RIVEA <br />RIVEA AT <br />AT ESCALANTE <br />DELTA STATE <br />9 WILDLIFE <br />AREA <br />10 <br /> <br />HAPPY <br />CANYON, <br />SPRING. <br />AND <br />ORV <br />CREEKS <br />12.13. <br />AND 14 <br /> <br />SITE NAME AND NUMBER <br /> <br />Figure 16.--Summary statistics of selenium concentrations in <br />whole-body fish samples. <br /> <br />The presence of a large population of green sunfish and carp of various <br />ages in Sweitzer Lake indicated that the two species may have adapted to <br />selenium in the lake. However, the populations of fish species once present <br />in the lake, such as suckers, are minimal, indicating that selenium may have <br />affected their survival. Channel catfish have been stocked in Sweitzer Lake, <br />but there was no evidence of catfish reproduction in the lake. <br /> <br />52 <br />