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Copper accumulation by the polychaete Melinna palmata: an antipredation mechanism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P. E. Gibbs ,
G. W. Bryan  and
K. P. Ryan
P. E. Gibbs
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth
G. W. Bryan
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth
K. P. Ryan
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth
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Extract

Analyses of the ampharetid polychaete Melinna palmata have shown that this species consistently contains a high concentration of copper. The related species Melinna cristata also has a high copper content but Ampharete acutifrons and Amphicteis gunneri have low copper contents. M. palmata usually contains copper in concentrations in excess of 600 μg/g (dry weight) and often above 1100 μg/g; much of this copper is embodied in the branchiae which have concentrations of 0·4–1·2% copper and, although these organs account for only 3–4% of the dry body weight, their copper content represents 30–40% of the total body burden. X-ray microanalysis shows the copper in the branchiae to be concentrated in special epidermal cells. The function of the copper in these cells does not appear to be associated with detoxication, luminescence or an antifouling mechanism but feeding trials have shown the branchiae of Melinna palmata, but not of Ampharete acutifrons, to be distasteful to certain small fish. Thus it is thought the copper may reduce the palatability of the tissues and is accumulated by Melinna palmata as a chemical defence against predation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , August 1981 , pp. 707 - 722
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1981

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