Assessing lead and cadmium pollution at the mouth of the river Segura (SE Spain) using the invasive blue crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) as a bioindicator organism

Título del postprint: “Evaluation of the invasive blue crab Callinectes sapidus as a Pb and Cd bioindicator in the Segura River Basin (Southeast Spain)”

The aim of this study was to evaluate Cd and Pb concentrations in the hepatopancreas, gills, muscle tissue and carapace of the crab Callinectes sapidus and in sediments from the mouth of the river Segura (SE Spain), an area that has undergone great anthropogenic change in recent decades. Lead concentrations were higher than Cd concentrations in the hepatopancreas, gills and muscles; no statistical differences were found between the sexes. Cadmium and Pb concentrations in sediments did not exceed the probable effect level in guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. The Biological Sediments Accumulation Factor (BSAF) was higher for Cd than Pb in the hepatopancreas, gills and carapace. For Cd, the hepatopancreas had the highest BSAF of all tissues, followed by gills. As well, the hepatopancreas had the highest Individual Mean Bioaccumulation Index (IMBI). The hepatopancreas and gills of the blue crab could thus be useful tissues for practical field monitoring of metal contamination in this ecosystem.

We would like to thank the Servicio de Pesca y Acuicultura of the Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia and the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica (Spain) for their logistical support for sampling as part of Proyecto Anguila. The authors are grateful to Carmen Hernández and Gema Riquelme for assistance in the processing of the samples, to Francisco San Nicolas (Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Murcia) for assistance in the sample analysis, and to Pura Marín (Departamento de Química Agrícola, Geología y Edafología, Universidad de Murcia) for the granulometry study. The lead author has received a grant from the Fundación Séneca (Murcia).

Peer reviewed