Abstract
DURING an ecological survey of the River Ivel1, a chalk stream in Bedfordshire, it was observed that shells of the snail Potamopyrgus jenkinsi (Smith) were heavily encrusted with calcareous nodules upstream of a sewage effluent discharge whereas downstream of the discharge such shells were clean (Fig. 1). Above the sewage effluent, snails were more than 70 per cent heavier than those below the effluent (Table 1).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Heywood, J., and Edwards, R. W. (in preparation).
Warwick, T., Proc. Malac. Soc. Lond., 30, 71 (1953).
Truesdale, G. A., Jones, K., and Vandyke, K. G., Water and Waste Treatment J., 7, 441 (1959).
Schwartz, A. M., Perry, J. W., and Berch, J., “Surface-Active Agents and Detergents”, 2 (Interscience Publishers Inc., New York, 1958).
Alekin, O. A., and Moritschewa, N. P., Doklady Akad. Nauk. S.S.S.R., 117, 1030 (1957).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
EDWARDS, R., HEYWOOD, J. Effect of a Sewage Effluent Discharge on the Deposition of Calcium Carbonate on Shells of the Snail Potamopyrgus jenkinsi (Smith). Nature 186, 492–493 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/186492a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/186492a0
- Springer Nature Limited