Distribution of heavy metals in the echinoid Paracentrotus lividus from the Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica ecosystem: seasonal and geographical variations

Spatial variations in trace element concentrations of the sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus, a first reference study in the Mediterranean Sea

“…In our study, the observed concentrations and low TESVI define Zn as the dominant TE both in these HCL sites and in the whole study area. Concentration magnitudes of Zn are of the same order as those observed elsewhere in the Mediterranean (Guendouzi et al, 2017;Soualili et al, 2008;Storelli et al, 2001;Warnau et al, 1998). Zn is an essential element for reproduction (Ahn et al, 2009), explaining generally high concentrations in all, but especially female, gonads.…”

“…LCL is the low contamination level, MCL is the medium contamination level, and HCL is the high contamination level. Data from Algeria (Guendouzi et al, 2017;Rouane-Hacene et al, 2017;Soualili et al, 2008), France (our study, Warnau et al, 1998), Italy (Pinsino et al, 2008;Salvo et al, 2014;Scanu et al, 2015;Storelli et al, 2001;Warnau et al, 1998), Greece (Portocali et al, 1997;Strogyloudi et al, 2014), and Spain: (Deudero et al, 2007). continental Italian coasts, and Sicily Island presents a heterogeneity resulting in sites with varying degrees of contamination.…”

“…Among them, the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is considered as a sentinel species. It has often been used as a tool to assess marine pollution of coastal ecosystems (Gharred et al, 2015;Guendouzi et al, 2017;Soualili et al, 2008;Warnau et al, 1998). This marine invertebrate is a relevant biological model for the study of environmental pollution.…”

“…The sampling was designed to characterize the coastline in order to compare local values with previously reported data from other Mediterranean areas (Guendouzi et al, 2017;Soualili et al, 2008;Storelli et al, 2001;Warnau et al, 1998). The analysis of this information has contributed to the ranking of sampling sites with regard to the environmental quality.…”

Accumulation of toxic metals (Pb and Cd) in the sea urchin Diadema aff. antillarum Philippi, 1845, in an oceanic island (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

“…Although several authors agree that cadmium tends to accumulate in internal tissues of organisms (Warnau et al, 1997;Quiniou et al, 1999), this did not occur for all the areas that we studied. In other species, like Paracentrotus lividus in the Mediterranean Sea, the accumulation of Cd is higher in the shell (Warnau et al, 1998).…”