This study is the first attempt to investigate heavy metal concentrations in the soldier crab
with a view to it being a potential candidate for the monitoring of copper(Cu), zinc(Zn),
nickel(Ni), lead(Pb) and cadmium(Cd) levels on the western coast of Taiwan. The objectives
of this investigation included the following: (1) to assess the pollution status at different sites
by determining the metal concentrations of ambient water and Pacific oysters; (2) to monitor
the concentrations of heavy metals, including Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb and Cd, in the soldier crab; (3) to
assess the effect of sex, wet weight and reproductive season at different sites¡F(4) to
investigate the distribution of metal concentration among carapace, gonads, midgut gland,
muscle; and (5). to assess the pollution status at different sites and years by monitoring the
concentration of heavy metals, including Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd in male soldier crabs
The Pacific oyster and stream results proved that site B is contaminated by Cu, Zn and Pb
from streams B-1 and B-2. The highest Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb concentrations in soldier crabs
appeared at site B, and significant differences in the accumulated concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn
and Ni in soldier crabs were found between the sites tested. The highest bioconcentration
factors of Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb in soldier crabs appeared at site B, indicating that the soldier crab
can accumulate Cu, Zn and Pb to the same degree as the Pacific oyster. In fact, soldier crabs
can accumulate more Ni than Pacific oysters, better reflecting the conditions of the ambient
environment. These phenomena, as well as the fact that the soldier crab is able to accumulate
relatively high levels of Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni, suggest that this crab is a potential biomonitor of
Pb and Ni pollution in aquatic ecosystems.
Only in the case at site A of Pb sex related difference could be detected. In general mean Pb
level in male soldier crabs were higher than in female. There are no significant sex related
differences of Cu, Zn, Cd and Ni in soldier crab among three sites. The lead mean
concentration in reproduction season and pre- reproduction season were higher than
non-reproduction seasons. The highest concentrations of lead were found in carapace and the
gonad in reproduction season.
The results presented that the metal concentration in soldier crabs vary significantly not
only because of season change in polluted sites, but also it may be influenced by the
sex-related and size-related difference of organisms. After eliminating size effect, sex effect
by analyzing 0.7 g~ 1.0 g and male soldier crabs to monitor the pollution status, the Cu and
Zn concentrations in soldier crabs along the Changhua coastline(site A and site B) is stable¡F
The higher concentrations of Pb and Cd in soldier crabs existed in 2002 and 2003. We suggested that the polluted sources of Pb and Cd along the Changhua coastline in 2002 is abundant, and of Pb contents from 2003 to 2006 and Cd content from 2003 to 2007 are decreasing. Therefore, it is essential to take size effect, sex, season, and polluted status into
account in comparative biomonitoring studies using soldier crabs as metals biomonitor. The
baseline concentration of soldier crabs were 21.4 £gg g-1 wet wt. Cu, 20.1 £gg g-1 wet wt. Zn, 0.13 £gg g-1 wet wt. Pb, 0.12 £gg g-1 wet wt. and 0.91 £gg g-1 wet wt..
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0212109-185219 |
| Date | 12 February 2009 |
| Creators | Yeh, Hiao-Chien |
| Contributors | I-Ming Chen, Wei-Hsien Wang, Fung-Chi Ko, Meng-Hsien Chen, Mao-Soung Kuo |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0212109-185219 |
| Rights | withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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