Hostname: page-component-6dbcb7884d-xl9kw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-14T08:24:35.035Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The detection of heightened sea-water copper concentrations by the mussel Mytilus edulis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

John Davenport  and
Andrew Manley
John Davenport
Affiliation:
N.E.R.C. Unit of Marine Invertebrate Biology, Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd
Andrew Manley
Affiliation:
N.E.R.C. Unit of Marine Invertebrate Biology, Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

An acute toxicity threshold of 0·09–0·10 ppm added copper was determined for specimens of Mytilus edulis from the Menai Strait which were exposed to copper (as CuSO4) in a flowing sea-water system.

Results are presented which show that the closure response of the mussel to added copper is a three-part process. First, a sharp adduction of the shell valves is seen at a mean total copper concentration of only 0·021 ppm, then as the copper concentration rises, ‘testing’ behaviour is observed and finally the shell valves close to isolate the animal from its environment. The complete valve closure mechanism only operates at added copper concentrations of 0·2 ppm or more. The initial behavioural reaction of valve adduction at low concentration occurred at a significantly higher mean total copper concentration (0·16 ppm) in mussels which had been previously acclimated to 0·02 ppm total copper in sea water for 10 days.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , November 1978 , pp. 843 - 850
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1978

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

REFERENCES

Adema, D. M. M., De Swaaf-Mooy, S. I. & Bais, P., 1972. Laboratorium onderzoek over de invloed van koper op mosselen (Mytilus edulis). T.N.O.-nieuws, 27, 482–486.Google Scholar
Clarke, G. L., 1947. Poisoning and recovery in barnacles and mussels. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass. 93, 73–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, J., 1977. A study of the effects of copper applied continuously and discontinuously to specimens of Mytilus edulis (L.) exposed to steady and fluctuating salinity levels. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 57, 63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisler, R., 1977. Acute toxicities of selected heavy metals to the softshell clam, Mya arenaria. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 17, 137–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, P., 1976. Concentrations and concentration factors of heavy metals in brown algae. Environmental Pollution, 10, 45–53.Google Scholar
Marks, G. W., 1938. The copper content and copper tolerance of some species of mollusks of the southern California coast. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass., 75, 224–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pentreath, R. J., 1973. The accumulation from water of 65Zn, 54Mn, 58Co and 59Fe by the mussel Mytilus edulis. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 53,127–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, D. J. H., 1976 a. The common mussel Mytilus edulis as an indicator of pollution by zinc, cadmium, lead and copper. I. Effects of environmental variables on uptake of metals. Marine Biology, 38, 59–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, D. J. H., 1976 b. The common mussel Mytilus edulis as an indicator of pollution by zinc, cadmium, lead and copper. II. Relationships of metals in the mussels to those discharged by industry. Marine Biology, 38, 71–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, D. J. H., 1977. Effects of salinity on the net uptake of zinc by the common mussel M. edulis. Marine Biology, 41, 79–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, D. M. & Major, C. W., 1972. The effect of copper (II) on survival, respiration and heart rate in the common blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass., 143, 679–688.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed