Acute toxicity of heavy metals to two species of marine nematodes |
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| Authors: | R Howell |
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| Institution: | Department of Zoology, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU, Great Britain |
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| Abstract: | The acute toxicity of seawater solutions of copper, zinc, lead, cadmium and mercury to two species of free-living marine nematodes was studied. Enoplus brevis (Bastian) is a euryhaline species inhabitating intertidal estuarinemud. The closely related Enoplus communis (Bastian) is stenohaline and may be found as a commensal in the byssus threads of seed mussels. Specimens of both species were collected from two sites on the Northeast coast of England showing different levels of pollution by heavy metals. Both species were more susceptible to copper, lead and mercury than to zinc and cadmium, but the order of toxicity of the metals changed with exposure concentration. The euryhaline species survived better than the strictly marine species and there is a suggestion that animals from a polluted site were more tolerant of elevated of heavy metals. |
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