Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T18:23:33.511Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transfer of metal detoxification along marine food chains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J. A. Nott  and
Artemis Nicolaidou
J. A. Nott
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB
Artemis Nicolaidou
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Athens 15771, Greece
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It has been observed previously that the digestive gland of the carnivorous gastropod mollusc, Murex trunculus, does not accumulate metals which occur in high concentration in the digestive gland of its prey, the detritus-feeding gastropod, Cerithium vulgatum. It is proposed that mechanisms of metal detoxification which operate in C. vulgatum render metals biologically unavailable to M. trunculus. In the present work, this scheme is tested by feeding tissues containing detoxified metals from a gastropod, bivalve and barnacle to carnivorous gastropods. Metals in the prey are accumulated in insoluble granules in the digestive gland of the gastropod, kidney of the bivalve and gut connective tissue of the barnacle. These tissues are fed to the carnivores and the granules pass through the entire length of the gut. They are egested as clean preparations within the faecal pellets and they still contain the metals introduced by the tissues of the prey. This transfer of detoxification between species indicates that the food chain progression of material can result in the reduction of the bioavailability of metals. The observations are recorded by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 70 , Issue 4 , November 1990 , pp. 905 - 912
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Carmichael, N.G., Squibb, K.S. & Fowler, B.A., 1979. Metals in the molluscan kidney: a comparison of two closely related bivalve species (Argopecten), using X-ray microanalysis and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 36, 1149–1155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, S.G., 1982. Subcellular accumulation and detoxication of metals in aquatic animals. In Physiological Mechanisms of Marine Pollutant Toxicity (ed W.B., Vernberget al.), pp. 3–52. Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, S.G., Pirie, B.J.S. & Coombs, T.L., 1980. Isolation and elemental analysis of metal-rich granules from the kidney of the scallop Pecten maximus (L.). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 42, 143–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, A.Z. & Nott, J.A. 1981. The role of intracellular biomineralized granules in the regulation and detoxification of metals in gastropods with special reference to the marine prosobranch Littorina littorea. Aquatic Toxicology, 1, 239–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, A.Z., Simkiss, K. & Ryan, K.P., 1984. The ultrastructural localization of metals in specimens of Littorina littorea collected from clean and polluted sites. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 64, 699–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicolaidou, A. & Nott, J.A., 1990. Mediterranean pollution from a ferro-nickel smelter: differential uptake of metals by some gastropods. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 21, 137–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nott, J.A. & Nicolaidou, A., 1989 a. The cytology of heavy metal accumulations in the digestive glands of three marine gastropods. Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 237, 347–362.Google Scholar
Nott, J.A. & Nicolaidou, A., 1989 b. Metals in gastropods - metabolism and bioreduction. Marine Environmental Research, 28, 201–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., 1987. Heavy metals in barnacles. In Barnacle Biology (ed. A.J., Southward), pp. 405–417. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema.Google Scholar
Ryan, K.P., Bald, W.B., Neumann, K., Simonsberger, P., Purse, D.H. & Nicholson, D.N., 1990. Cooling rate and ice-crystal measurement in biological specimens plunged into liquid ethane, propane, and Freon 22. Journal of Microscopy, 158, 365–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, P.G. & Ritz, D.A., 1986. Growth of zinc granules in the barnacle Elminius modestus. Marine Biology, 90, 255–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, G., Rainbow, P.S., Foster, P. & Crisp, D.J., 1975 a. Barnacles: possible indicators of zinc pollution? Marine Biology, 30, 57–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, G., Rainbow, P.S., Foster, P. & Holland, D.L., 1975 b. Zinc phosphate granules in tissue surrounding the midgut of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Marine Biology, 33, 161–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar