## 3 Results  
Hg was found in all samples, regardless of the sex and the sampling area (coast and open sea). The concentrations are reported in Table 1. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline
**Reproductive** & **Sex** & **Sampling** & **Length, cm** & **Weight, g** & **Total Hg kg\({}^{-1}\) ww** & **Total Lipids g/100 g** \\
**Stage** & **Ecan** & **Area** & **19** & **17** \(\pm\) **2** & **49** \(\pm\) **12** & **0.41** \(\pm\) **0.03** & **5.11** \(\pm\) **0.49** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Juvenile} & Female & Open sea & 6 & 12 \(\pm\) 3 & 16 \(\pm\) 1 & 0.25 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 3.27 \(\pm\) 0.05 \\  & Female & Coast & 9 & 11 \(\pm\) 1 & 12 \(\pm\) 2 & 0.03 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.15 \(\pm\) 0.09 \\  & Male & Open sea & 4 & 10 \(\pm\) 1 & 9 \(\pm\) 3 & 0.15 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.59 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\  & Coast & 10 & 10 & 10 \(\pm\) 1 & 13 \(\pm\) 1 & 0.07 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.12 \(\pm\) 0.10 \\  & Total & 29 & 11 \(\pm\) 1 & 13 \(\pm\) 3 & 0.13 \(\pm\) 0.09 & 1.53 \(\pm\) 1.19 \\  & Female & Open sea & 19 & 17 \(\pm\) 2 & 49 \(\pm\) 12 & 0.41 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 5.11 \(\pm\) 0.49 \\  & Female & Coast & 44 & 16 \(\pm\) 2 & 43 \(\pm\) 13 & 0.19 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 7.85 \(\pm\) 0.74 \\ Adult & Male & Open sea & 30 & 13 \(\pm\) 1 & 21 \(\pm\) 5 & 0.23 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 2.97 \(\pm\) 0.17 \\  & Total & Coast & 7 & 13 \(\pm\) 1 & 26 \(\pm\) 4 & 0.07 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 6.49 \(\pm\) 0.27 \\  & Total & 100 & 15 \(\pm\) 2 & 35 \(\pm\) 13 & 0.22 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 5.61 \(\pm\) 2.08 \\  & Female & Coast & 31 & 15 \(\pm\) 2 & 39 \(\pm\) 12 & 0.17 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 4.23 \(\pm\) 0.06 \\ Spawning & Male & Open sea & 26 & 13 \(\pm\) 1 & 26 \(\pm\) 16 & 0.22 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.85 \(\pm\) 0.16 \\  & Coast & 8 & 13 \(\pm\) 1 & 21 \(\pm\) 7 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 3.63 \(\pm\) 0.30 \\  & Total & 89 & 14 \(\pm\) 1 & 31 \(\pm\) 8 & 0.28 \(\pm\) 0.23 & 2.84 \(\pm\) 1.29 \\  & & & (13–15) & (21–39) & (0.11–0.62) & (1.62–4.23) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Concentrations of total mercury (THg) and total lipids in muscle tissues of _M. barbutus_ samples from the Adriatic Sea. Reproductive stage, sex, sampling area, and biometric data of investigated fish. \(n\), number of fish samples; mean value \(\pm\) standard deviation; range (min–max) of length, weight, THg, and total lipids. A well-defined pattern of THg content was evident in female specimens in relation to reproductive stages, both in coastal and open sea sampling areas. The THg content increased, passing from the juvenile phase to the spawning phase, whereas the content drastically decreased in the post-spawning phase, in which the lowest value was recorded. Coastal samples showed a significant statistical decrease (\(p\) = 0.0017) overall in THg content compared to the open sea samples (0.11 \(\pm\) 0.08 and 0.35 \(\pm\) 0.22 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) ww, in coastal and open sea, respectively). The same trend was also observed at every reproductive stage of females. Therefore, comparing coastal and open sea fish, a significant statistical decrease in THg content was recorded in the coastal area in comparison with the open sea (Figure 2a). Regarding male specimens, catches made in open sea, the values of THg content in muscle tissue were significantly lower in juveniles than in other reproductive stages of fish (\(p\) = 0.0003). In regards to coastal samples, the lowest THg level was recorded in juvenile and adult phases, with an exponential increase (\(p\) < 0.0001, Figure 2b), whereas the highest THg level was recorded in post-spawning phase. Comparing both sampling areas, the males caught from the coastal area showed THg values that were significantly lower than those of the open sea (\(p\) = 0.034, 0.12 \(\pm\) 0.08 and 0.21 \(\pm\) 0.04 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) ww, respectively) (Figure 2b). Furthermore, coastal fish samples showed a significant statistical decrease in THg content compared to offshore samples for each reproductive stage, except for post-spawning (Figure 2b).