No abstract

a b s t r a c tLevels of Be, Al, V, Mn, Co, As, Se, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, Bi as well as of Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile from the Mediterranean French coast were analysed using DRC ICP-MS. The first twelve elements have not been well studied and can be considered to be potential pollutants as a result of potentially increased levels resulting from anthropogenic activities. Spatial variation and/or compartmentalization were found for all trace elements. Except for Al, Cr, Fe, Cu and Ag, most trace elements were preferentially accumulated in photosynthetic tissues, suggesting uptake from the water column. Moreover, for Be, V, Mn, Co, Ni, As, Mo, Sb, Sn and Pb, adult leaves had higher levels than intermediate leaves, suggesting low kinetics of accumulation. Levels in the third intermediate leaf were representative of the average levels of the integral shoot, and thus can be used alone in chemical biomonitoring. For most of the twelve little-studied trace elements, the background levels of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea can be measured, and their spatial variation can be related to anthropogenic activities. Levels of the seven widely studied trace elements seem to decrease or stabilize over time, probably due to their reduced anthropogenic use. These observations show that P. oceanica is a sensitive bioindicator for the monitoring of chemical contamination of a large number of trace elements.

A complete understanding of the mechanistic basis of marine ecosystem functioning is only possible through integrative and interdisciplinary research. This enables the prediction of change and possibly the mitigation of the consequences of anthropogenic impacts. One major aim of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action ES0609 “Seagrasses productivity. From genes to ecosystem management,” is the calibration and synthesis of various methods and the development of innovative techniques and protocols for studying seagrass ecosystems. During 10 days, 20 researchers representing a range of disciplines (molecular biology, physiology, botany, ecology, oceanography, and underwater acoustics) gathered at The Station de Recherches Sous-marines et Océanographiques (STARESO, Corsica) to study together the nearby Posidonia oceanica meadow. STARESO is located in an oligotrophic area classified as “pristine site” where environmental disturbances caused by anthropogenic pressure are exceptionally low. The healthy P. oceanica meadow, which grows in front of the research station, colonizes the sea bottom from the surface to 37 m depth. During the study, genomic and proteomic approaches were integrated with ecophysiological and physical approaches with the aim of understanding changes in seagrass productivity and metabolism at different depths and along daily cycles. In this paper we report details on the approaches utilized and we forecast the potential of the data that will come from this synergistic approach not only for P. oceanica but for seagrasses in general.

The study was undertaken to evaluate the growth performance and feed utilization of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, fed six diets (D) in which fishmeal (FM) was gradually replaced by a mixture of local plant by-products. In diets 1 and 2, FM (250 g kg )1 ) was replaced by sunflower oil cake (SFOC). In diets 3 and 4, FM (250 and 150 g kg )1 , respectively) was replaced by SFOC and bean meal (BM) while FM was totally substituted by a mixture of groundnut oil cake (GOC), BM and SFOC in diets 5 and 6. Sunflower oil cake was cooked, soaked or dehulled in order to determine the appropriate processing techniques for improving the SFOC nutritive value and to evaluate the apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) values of the alternative diets. No significant differences were observed for daily feed intake, weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE) among fish fed D1, D2, D3 (250 g kg )1 FM), D4 (150 g kg )1 FM) and D6 (0 g kg )1 FM). The highest SGR (3.2% per day) and FE (1.2) were achieved in fish fed D3, and the lowest in fish fed D5 (0% FM), suggesting a maximum acceptable dietary concentration of hulled SFOC below 250 g kg )1 in African catfish juveniles. Protein efficiency ratio ranged from 2.2 to 3.2 for all dietary treatments and was positively influenced by FM inclusion. African catfish were able to digest plant protein very efficiently in all diets tested. ADC of protein ranged from 88.6 to 89.5%, while ADC of energy was relatively low for diets containing hulled sunflower oilcake (71-74%) and high when sunflower oilcake was dehulled (78.6-81.3%). Similarly, ADC of dry matter was higher when sunflower was dehulled (72.1%) when compared with crude SFOC (60.5%). Soaking increased ADC values for neutral detergent fibre (NDF), dry matter, energy, protein and amino acids (AA). There were no significant differences in protein ADCs (88-90%) with increased levels of dietary vegetable ingredients. Both soaking and dehulling of sunflower before incorporation helped in the reduction of NDF, antitrypsin and tannins. Digestibility of all AA was generally high, greater than 90% for both indispensable and non-indispensable AA. Based on the data obtained, it was possible to totally replace menhaden fish meal with a mixture of vegetable proteins (72% of total dietary protein) when diets contained a relatively low percentage of animal protein (28% based on blood meal and chicken viscera meal) without negative effects. KEY WORDS

The present study investigates the relationships between copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in sediment, pore water and their bioaccumulation in the polychaete Nereis (Alitta) virens, as well as the importance of site-specific sediment characteristics in that process. Sediment, pore water and N. virens were sampled from seven sites with different pollution histories along the English Channel coast. Results showed that site-specific metal levels and sediment characteristics were important in determining the bioavailability of metals to worms. Significant correlations were found between Cu in the sediment and in the pore water and between Zn in the pore water and in N. virens. Zn from the pore water was thus more readily available from a dissolved source to N. virens than Cu. Data also showed that metal concentrations in N. virens were lower than those found in other closely related polychaetes, indicating that it may regulate tissue concentrations of Cu and Zn.

No abstract

No abstract

a b s t r a c tNumerous trace elements (TEs) can be considered as potential pollutants of the environment, their mining productions and industrial uses increasing worldwide. Their monitoring can be achieved through the use of bioindicator species, such as the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819). That species has been widely used to monitor the chemical pollution of coastal ecosystems by Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, As, Ag and V. Conversely, environmental levels of Be, Al, Fe, Mn, Co, Se, Mo, Sn, Sb and Bi have been little or not monitored so far in mussel watch programs. Bioaccumulation processes of these 19 TEs in rope-grown M. galloprovincialis purchased from a salt pond with good chemical water quality were thus investigated in the present study.Mussels efficiently accumulated the 19 studied TEs. Bioaccumulation processes were driven by numerous mutually dependent biological parameters such as the mussel size and flesh weight, the sex and the reproductive status and the body compartment considered. TE bioaccumulation was a power function of the mussel soft body dry weight; total contents linearly increased with the shell length. Small-size mussels overall concentrated more TEs, with a high inter-individual variability, consequently influencing the modelling of their bioaccumulation in the whole rope population. Although a large range of rope-grown M. galloprovincialis sizes can be used for monitoring purposes, one will thus take care not to use extreme size individuals. The influence of gametogenesis in determining female body higher TE concentrations prior to spawning could not be neglected and varied depending on the element. TEs were preferentially accumulated in the hepatopancreas, except for Zn, Se, Cd and Mo, more concentrated in gills. Gametogenesis did not influence TE distribution between body compartments, but likely diluted their concentrations as a direct consequence of massive reproductive tissue production.So, results from the present study underline the potential use of M. galloprovincialis in the biomonitoring of numerous little studied TEs and give some insights into the decisive role played by some relevant biological parameters in bioaccumulation processes of the 19 investigated TEs in rope-grown mussels.