Response of temperate sea anemones to butyltin contamination

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Mercier, Annie, Pelletier, Émilien, Hamel, Jean-François
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1998
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Stella; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f97-249; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f97-249

Two common species from the North Atlantic, Metridium senile and Bunodactis stella, were used to assess the response of temperate sea anemones toward tributyltin (TBT) contamination. Sea anemones M. senile exposed to a nominal TBT concentration of 50 ng ·L seawater -1 in a continuous-flow system for 5 days accumulated 0.33 ± 0.02 ng TBT ·mg dry mass -1 and 0.49 ± 0.02 ng dibutyltin (DBT) ·mg dry mass -1 , a TBT derivative that dominates in seawater. The daily ingestion of 10 mg of mussel homogenate, contaminated with 10 ng TBT ·mg wet mass -1 , for 5 days led to comparable accumulations in M. senile and B. stella of 0.52 ± 0.09 ng TBT ·mg dry mass -1 (0.61 ± 0.01 ng DBT ·mg dry mass -1 ) and 0.47 ± 0.10 ng TBT ·mg dry mass -1 (0.62 ± 0.12 ng DBT ·mg dry mass -1 ), respectively. Total burdens to the tissues after 5 days, combining TBT and DBT as Sn, represented 35 ± 6 and 42 ± 15% of ingested TBT in M. senile and B. stella, respectively. Adsorption and degradation processes are apparently involved in butyltin regulation. The two cold-water species metabolized TBT almost as efficiently as a previously studied tropical symbiotic species, but they accumulated lower levels of butyltins and therefore seem less vulnerable to TBT contamination.