Accumulation of six heavy metals in the leaves stage of red-mangrove - Rhizophora mangle Linnaeus (Angiospermae: Rhizophoraceae) - and in body structures of uçá-crab - Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Crustacea, Brachyura, Ucididae)

• Grant number: 10/05129-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2010
• End date: October 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Antonio Amaro Pinheiro
• Grantee: Pablo Pena Gandara e Silva
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Benthic macroinvertebres are extremely important in evaluation and monitoring of environmental quality of aquatic ecosystems, particularly those subjected to anthropogenic impacts. Heavy metals can be accumulated by organisms of these ecosystems, and can reach toxic levels, even in smaller doses, due to the interaction between them. The mangrove crab Ucides cordatus is an herbivore semi-terrestrial crustacean, which feeds on leaves and propagules available on mangrove sediment, which has a close relationship with the sediment and the water found in their galleries. This study aims to examine the accumulation of six heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr, Mn and Hg) in three body structures (muscle, hepatopancreas and gills) of the uçá-crab, and in three maturation stages of the leaves (buds, green mature in third branch, and yellow senescent in the branches) of the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). The accumulation of each metal by crab size / age will also be evaluated according three classes of carapace width (60-70, 70-80 and 80-90mm), with a minimum of five specimens by size classes. Quantitative data for each heavy metal will be compared between sizes and body structures of U. cordatus by ANOVA, and means confronted by the Tukey test at 5%. The same statistical procedure will be adopted for the maturation stages of the R. mangle leaves. It is intended that the results obtained can be used as criteria to choose the best body structure / leaf stage in monitoring studies of these metals in mangroves, providing important information on the bioaccumulation in biota, especially in the case of crab, which is an important fishery resource in several Brazilian regions. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

AMARO PINHEIRO, MARCELO ANTONIO; GANDARA E SILVA, PABLO PENA; DE ALMEIDA DUARTE, LUIS FELIPE; ALMEIDA, ALAOR APARECIDO; ZANOTTO, FLAVIA PINHEIRO. Accumulation of six metals in the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus (Crustacea: Ucididae) and its food source, the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle (Angiosperma: Rhizophoraceae). ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY, v. 81, p. 114-121, JUL 1 2012. (09/14725-1, 10/05129-3)