Trace-metal detoxification in the ventral caeca of Orchestia gammarellus (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

The talitrid amphipod crustacean Orchestia gammarellus (Pallas) was collected from metal-contaminated (Dulas Bay, Gironde) and control (Millport) sites in the UK and France. Irrespective of site of origin, the amphipods showed the same physiological mechanism of trace-metal detoxification, involving the ventral caeca. Copper was always present in lysosomal residual bodies in the ventral caeca. Following laboratory exposure to zinc and cadmium, the lysosomes usually contained both copper and zinc but cadmium was not detectable. The lysosomal copper concentration is positively correlated to that of sulphur, while the concentration of lysosomal zinc is related to that of phosphorus. Results are interpreted in terms of the differential rates of turnover of metallothioneins chelating copper, zinc or cadmium. Received: 9 February 1999 / Accepted: 2 December 1999     

Genetic structure of fissiparous populations of Holothuria (Halodeima) atra on the Great Barrier Reef

Allozyme variation at five polymorphic loci was surveyed in a total of 311 individuals of the sea cucumber Holothuria (Halodeima) atra (Jäger, 1833) collected from two nearshore and two midshelf populations in the Great Barrier Reef in November 1996. Strong deviations in genotype frequencies from those expected under Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, particularly a large number of heterozygote excesses, confirmed the occurrence of asexual reproduction. Females and males differed significantly in genotype frequencies as a result of differences in either the amount of fission in each sex or in the mortality of asexually produced recruits. The estimated maximum sexual input (number of sexually produced individuals: sample size = N*:N_i) to the two nearshore reefs (38 to 67%) was low relative to that to the two midshelf reefs (74 to 87%). The three ratios and G _o :G _e , N _go :N _i , N*:N _i , (where G _o = observed genotypic diversity, G _e = expected genotypic diversity, N _go = number of genotypes) considered to be indicators of the extent of asexual reproduction, showed a consistent trend in the degree of asexual reproduction similar to that derived from the number of regenerating individuals observed in the populations for which data were available. F-statistic analyses of clonal gene frequencies demonstrated that all populations received sexual recruits from the same gene pool. There was evidence of restricted sexual recruitment to the Fantome population, suggesting that asexual reproduction was dominant only in areas where sexual recruitment was limited by other factors.     

Use of otoliths and eye lenses for measuring trace-metal incorporation in fishes: a biogeographic study

The otoliths and lenses of the temperate damselfish Parma microlepis (Günther) (Pomacentridae) showed similar differences in trace-metal profile for selected locations along the coast of New South Wales, Australia. Otoliths and lenses displayed a differential ability to accumulate metals. Metal concentrations were ranked differently in the two structures (e.g. Sr > Ba > Pb > Rb > Hg in otoliths, and Hg > Sr ≃ Rb > Pb > Ba in lenses), and where similar metals were accumulated, they were accumulated at vastly different concentrations (e.g. Ba concentrations in otoliths are a thousand-fold greater than in lenses). Analyses of the otoliths and lenses of P. microlepis from locations close to Sydney and up to 100 km from the city were able to distinguish amongst these locations with respect to a number of metals, namely Ba, Mn and Hg. Multivariate analyses of otolith and lens data gave similar results among locations (agreement was obtained for 11 out of 15 pair-wise comparisons), and differences were attributable to the differential ability of the two structures to accumulate metals such as Mn and Hg. Trace-metal differences between locations were found to coincide with the proximity of sewage (including industrial waste) and petroleum storage facilities to the different locations. Received: 23 June 1997 / Accepted: 4 August 1997