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Patchy sediment contamination scenario and the habitat selection by an estuarine mudsnail

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Abstract

Since mudsnails are able to avoid contaminated sediment and that the contaminants in sediment are not uniformly distributed, the mudsnail Peringia ulvae was exposed to cadmium (Cd) spiked sediment and assessed for avoidance response in a heterogeneous contamination scenario. Four Cd concentrations were prepared and disposed in patches on dishes, which were divided in 25 fields (six fields for each sediment concentration); 24 organisms were deployed in the central field, with no sediment. Observations were made at 2, 4 and 6 h (corresponding to immediate response), 8, 10 and 12 h (very short term), and 24 h (short term). A trend to avoid contaminated patches was observed in the immediate and very short term. After 24 h exposure, the organisms exposed to the highest level of contamination seemed to have lost the ability to move and avoid contaminated patches. In a contamination scenario in which non- and contaminated sediment patches are heterogeneously distributed, local mudsnail populations can simply rearrange their locality without needing to move to a different habitat. Such less contaminated patches can become donor areas in a future recolonization scenario.

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Acknowledgments

CVM Araújo is grateful to FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal) for postdoctoral fellowships and SENESCYT (Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, Ecuador) (reference SFRH/BPD/74044/2010 and PROMETEO program, respectively). This research was partially funded by the 7th Framework Programme (FP7 2007-2013) of the European Commission, through a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development (PIEF-GA-2011-299747) awarded to M. Martinez-Haro. Currently, M. Martinez-Haro benefits from a postdoctoral contract with the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and the European Social Fund (Operational Programme FSE 2007/2013; POST 2014/7780). AJ Pais-Costa is grateful to FCT for PhD fellowship. The authors are grateful to Jon Nesbit for his revision of the English text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal

    Cristiano V. M. Araújo & Rui Ribeiro

  2. Central Department of Research (DCI), Ecuadorian Aquatic Ecotoxicology (ECUACTOX) Group, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí (ULEAM), Ciudadela Universitaria, vía San Mateo, Manta, Ecuador

    Cristiano V. M. Araújo

  3. MARE-Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3001-401, Coimbra, Portugal

    Mónica Martinez-Haro, Antónia J. Pais-Costa & João C. Marques

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  1. Cristiano V. M. Araújo
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Correspondence to Cristiano V. M. Araújo.

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Araújo, C.V.M., Martinez-Haro, M., Pais-Costa, A.J. et al. Patchy sediment contamination scenario and the habitat selection by an estuarine mudsnail. Ecotoxicology 25, 412–418 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-015-1599-1

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