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Heavy Metals in the Burrowing Bivalve Scrobicularia Plana from the Tamar Estuary in Relation to Environmental Levels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G. W. Bryan  and
H. Uysal
G. W. Bryan
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth
H. Uysal
Affiliation:
Department of General Zoology, Ege University, Bornova-Izmir, Turkey
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The bivalve mollusc Scrobicularia plana (da Costa) is very common in the estuaries of South-West England and lives in permanent burrows in intertidal sediments ranging from soft mud to fairly hard sand and sometimes gravel. Although it obtains some of its food by filtering the overlying water, Scrobicularia is mainly a deposit feeder (Hughes, 1969). In addition to its widespread distribution, Scrobicularia has several features which make it attractive as a possible indicator organism for metallic contamination. It is more tolerant of low salinities than most common estuarine bivalves, usually penetrating farther upstream than Macoma balthica, Mytilus edulis and Cerastoderma edule (Percival, 1929; Spooner & Moore, 1940; Bryan & Hummerstone, 1977). Also, it lives for over ten years, usually attaining a length of 4–5 cm, and its rate of growth can be estimated from rings on the shell (Green, 1957; Hughes, 1970).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , February 1978 , pp. 89 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1978

References

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