Sediment and oyster (Saccostrea cucullata) samples were collected at Dhanda, a fishing village in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The samples were analysed for copper, zinc, iron and manganese contents. Metal concentrations in the sediments and bioaccumulated levels in oysters were correlated. There is no positive correlation between the total sedimentary levels of metals analysed and the bioaccumulated levels of respective metals in oyster. A positive correlation between the bioavailable fractions of zinc, iron and manganese, and the bioaccumulated levels exists. Copper, however, shows a negative correlation with respect to the bioaccumulated levels

Aanand, S.

Purushothaman, C.S.

Rajendran, K.V.

Saharan, N.

Venkateshvaran, K.

Aquatic Commons

Journal of the Indian Fisheries Association 
	 23 
30, 2003, 23.29 
COPPER, ZINC, IRON AND MANGANESE IN SEDIMENTS, AND IN THE 
ROCK OYSTER SACCOSTREA CUCULLATA IN MIJMBAI COAST 
S. Aanand, K. V. Rajendran*, C. S. Purushothaman, Neelam Saharan and 
K. Venkateshvaran 
Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Fisheries University Road, Versova, 
Mumbai — 400 061 
ABSTRACT 
Sediment and oyster (Saccostrea cucullata) samples were collected at 
Dhanda, a fishing village in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The samples were analysed 
for copper, zinc, iron and manganese contents. Metal concentrations in the 
sediments and bioaccumulated levels in oysters were correlated. There is no 
positive correlation between the total sedimentary levels of metals analysed 
and the bioaccumulated levels of respective metals in oyster. A positive 
correlation between the bioavailable fractions of zinc, iron and manganese, 
and the bioaccumulated levels exists. Copper, however, shows a negative 
correlation with respect to the bioaccumulated levels. 
Key words: Zinc, iron, manganese, copper, oyster, sediment 
INTRODUCTION 
All metals, including the essential 
metallic micronutrients are invariably toxic 
to aquatic organisms, with toxicity 
depending on the nature of metal, exposure 
time and dosage, other metals present, etc. 
Metals are required in life processes, and 
most organisms have the capability of 
concentrating them. This capability is 
enhanced by certain feeding and metabolic 
processes, which can lead to enormously 
high concentrations. Invertebrates, in 
particular, seem to possess greater ability 
to concentrate metals, along with other 
foreign materials found in their 
environment, when they filter plankton  
during feeding. Phillips (1977) listed out 
the ideal characteristics of biological 
indicators and suggested molluscs belonging 
to the genera Mytilus, Perna, Ostrea and 
Crassostrea to be universal indicators. 
Scanes (1996) reported oysters to be useful 
indicators of trace metal contamination of 
the marine environment. 
Sediments form the ultimate receptacle 
of heavy metals. Iron and manganese are 
generally present as oxyhydroxides, which 
are involved in surface precipitation and 
adsorption of trace elements, and therefore, 
can influence the chemical behaviour of 
other heavy metals (Sadiq, 1992). Watzin 
and Roscigno (1997) suggested that zinc 
*Present address: Livestock Industries, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, 306 Carmody Road, 
St. Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia 
24 	 S. AANAND, K. V. RAJENDRAN*, C. S. PURUSHOTHAMAN, 
NEELAM SAHARAN AND K. VENKATESHVARAN 
contamination of sediments could influence 
the ecology of benthic community. 
Meiofauna are affected upon regular 
exposure to metals in the interstitial space 
rather than a single exposure (Maguire 
and Roberts, 1976). Luoma and Bryan 
(1982) observed the bioavailable fraction to 
be providing more information on the 
bioavailability of the metals than the other 
fractions. In the present study, an attempt 
was made to correlate the heavy metals 
present in the sediment, and the 
bioavailable fraction and the concentration 
of these metals in oysters. 
MATERIAL AND METHODS 
The oysters Saccosstrea cucullata were 
collected in the year 2000 at Dhanda, a 
fishing village in Mumbai (Maharashtra 
State), and brought to the laboratory on 
ice. In the laboratory, animals were shucked 
with a stainless steel scalpel and the soft 
parts removed. The muscle was then 
homogenized, collected in polyethylene bags 
and stored at —20 0C. The samples were 
digested with 10 ml of freshly prepared 1:1 
(v/v) H202/HNO3 . Boiling was continued 
until the volume was reduced to 2-5 ml. 
The solution was then filtered and volume 
made to 25 ml with double-distilled water. 
Blanks were prepared simultaneously 
(FAO/SIDA, 1983). 
Sediment samples were collected 
during low tide in polyethylene bags and 
transferred to the laboratory in an icebox. 
The samples were then processed by 
physically removing large shells and stones, 
drying at 60 °C for 24 hours and digestion 
as per Tam and Yao (1999). The bioavailable  
fractions of the sedimentary metals were 
obtained by the extraction of dry sediments 
with 1 NHC1 (Luoma and Bryan, 1982). 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
The concentrations of sedimentary 
metals are presented in Table 1. The peak 
concentrations were observed during the 
month of May for both copper and iron, 
while for zinc and manganese, these were 
in April and October, respectively. The 
bioavailable fraction of iron (Table 2) was 
negligible (6.2375 ± 1.0849 mg/g) when 
compared to the mean bioavailable fractions 
of manganese (300.1625 ± 27.8864 mg/g), 
zinc (63.8375 ± 7.7351 mg/g) and copper 
(31.6375 ± 8.5192 mg/g). The concentrations 
of iron, zinc, manganese and copper 
bioaccumulated by S. cucullata are given 
in Table 3. The seasonal and temporal 
variations of the bioaccumulated, 
sedimentary and bioavailable fractions are 
presented in Fig. 1. Two-way analysis 
revealed significant differences among the 
different metals and not between the 
months of sampling. Significant difference 
was also observed between the 
bioaccumulated, sedimentary and 
bioavailable fractions for all the metals. 
The values of iron and manganese 
recorded in the present study were 
comparable to the earlier works at Mumbai 
Coast (Matkar et al., 1981; Patel et al., 
1985) though higher than the reported 
values. The value of iron was, however, 
less than the value reported at Chennai 
and Visakhapatinam (Pragatheeswaran et 
al., 1986). The higher value of iron in these 
areas has been attributed to the 
COPPER, ZINC, IRON AND MANGANESE IN SEDIMENTS, AND 
	 25 
IN THE ROCK OYSTER SACCOSTREA CUCULLATA IN MUMBAI COAST 
Table 1: Concentration (mg/kg dry wt) of heavy metals in sediment 
Months of sampling Fe Mn Zn Cu 
Feb. 2885.5 605.5 109.0 68.5 
Apr. 2804.0 652.0 133.0 84.0 
May 2931.0 635.0 129.5 87.5 
Jul. 2665.0 683.0 95.5 53.5 
Aug. 2695.0 692.5 96.0 52.3 
Oct. 2767.0 772.5 100.5 52.5 
Nov. 2830.0 514.0 114.5 76.0 
Dec. 2894.0 650.5 117.5 66.5 
Mean 2808.94 650.63 111.94 67.60 
SD 95.56 74.26 14.41 14.13 
Table 2: Bioavailable fractions (mg/kg dry wt) of the heavy metals in sediment 
Month Fe Mn Zn Cu 
Feb. 1.5 2.4 6.0 6.1 
Apr. 3.5 11.1 8.6 7.5 
May 7.1 3.1 9.0 5.7 
Jul. 7.9 7.1 5.2 6.5 
Aug. 4.7 7.7 5.2 7.2 
Oct. 3.5 5.3 5.3 6.8 
Nov. 4.3 2.0 6.1 6.1 
Dec. 7.8 4.9 5.5 4.0 
Mean 5.03 5.88 6.36 6.24 
SD 0.82 1.09 0.55 0.38 
Table 3: Bioaccumulated levels (mg/g wet wt) of heavy metals in 
Saccostrea cucullata 
Months of sampling Fe Mn Zn Cu 
Feb. 96.4844 2.9573 81.3270 133.8213 
Apr. 101.6562 6.4451 86.0318 148.6270 
May 107.9271 5.3757 89.7325 77.1203 
Jul. 125.9361 11.5803 80.0972 157.782 
Aug. 236.4617 4.1900 166.2820 44.5166 
Oct. 119.2002 11.2151 266.9187 192.2584 
Nov. 78.5742 2.8747 189.0091 72.1359 
Dec. 108.5766 2.1290 244.2214 203.4672 
Mean 121.8521 5.8459 150.4525 128.7161 
SD 48.4821 3.7037 77.1449 58.3655 
— 250 
rn 
er. 200 
1.2 150 
100 
50 
0 
26 	 S. AANAND, K. V. RAJENDRAN*, C. S. PURUSHOTHAMAN, 
NEELAM SAHARAN AND K. VENKATESHVARAN 
Fe concentration in Saccostrea cucullata (0) and sediment (S), and the 
bioavailable fraction (B) 
111 Fe-0 	 Fe-S 	 !xi Fe-B 
O
• 	
4000 
Es 	 3000 
-r3) 2000 
o ▪ 1000 0 0 	 0 
                
                
                
                
               
               
               
               
               
     
— 
   
PR 
   
%Cr  
           
           
              
Feb 	 Apr 	 May 	 Jul 	 Aug 	 Oct 
	 Nov 	 Dec 
Months of sampling 
Mn concentration in S. cucullata (0) and sediment (S), and the bioavailable 
fraction (B) 
q Mn-O 	 p Mn-S 
	
p Mn-B 
Co
nc
e
n t
ra
tio
n  1000 
7) 
• 500 
    
   
   
0 
   
    
    
Feb 	 Apr 	 May 	 Jul 
	
Aug 	 Oct 	 Nov 	 Dec 
Months of sampling 
Zn concentration of S. cucullata (0) and sediment (S), and the 
bioavailable fraction (B) 
Zn-O 	 Zn-S 	 i Zn-B 
Co
nc
en
tra
tio
n  
(m
g /k
g)  300 
250 
200 
150 
100 
50 
0 
         
       
       
       
        
         
Feb 
	
Apr 	 May 	 Jul 	 Aug 	 Oct 	 Nov 	 Dec 
Months of sampling 
Cu concentrations in S. cucullata (0) and sediment (S), and the 
bioavailable fraction (B) 
0 Cu-0 
	
fflCu-S 
	
Cu-B 
Feb 
	
Apr 	 M cy 	 Aug 	 Cct 
	
Nov 	 Dec 
Months of scrrpling 
Fig. 1. Spatial and temporal variations in the sedimentary (dry-weight basis), bioavailable 
(dry weight basis) and bioaccumulated (wet-weight basis) fractions of metals 
COPPER, ZINC, IRON AND MANGANESE IN SEDIMENTS, AND 	 27 
IN THE ROCK OYSTER SACCOSTREA CUCULLATA IN MUMBAI COAST 
anthropogenic activities, particularly the 
development of urban centres. The values 
of copper and zinc were, however, less than 
the values recorded earlier in Ulhas River, 
Mumbai (Sahu and Mukherjee, 1983). The 
value of zinc was comparatively less than 
the value reported in the Mumbai Harbour 
Bay (Matkar et al., 1981). All the metals 
analysed in the present study gave higher 
values than those recorded at Tuticorin 
Coast (Aanand, 1998). The increase in metal 
concentrations indicates the impact of the 
higher level of urbanization and 
industrialization in Mumbai. 
The analysis of the levels in S. cucullata 
shows a positive correlation for all metals 
except copper, with respect to the 
bioavailable fraction. As far as the total 
sedimentary metal levels are concerned, 
only manganese showed a positive 
correlation for bioaccumulated levels. 
Though significant difference could not be 
observed for both sediment and 
bioaccumulated metal levels, fluctuations 
in metal levels could be observed mainly 
during the months of May and August for 
all the metals (Fig. 1). This indicates a 
post-monsoon influence in metal 
concentrations. Such seasonal fluctuations 
have been reported for Crassostrea 
madrasensis and Donax cuneatus in 
Tuticorin Coast (Aanand, 1998), and for 
Mytilus edulis in the Belgian coast (Meeus-
Verdinne et al., 1983). The order of 
accumulation was Zn>Cu>Fe>Mn. This 
order of accumulation was similar to that 
reported for C. madrasensis (Zn>Cu>Mn), 
but different from that for D. cuneatus 
(Zn>Mn>Cu) reported earlier at Tuticorin 
Coast. Earlier workers (Lakshmanan and 
Nambisan, 1983; Ikuta, 1987; Rajendran  
et al., 1988; Morse et al., 1993; Nady, 1996; 
Senthilnathan et al., 1998) have observed 
the order Zn>Cu>Mn. 
The higher levels of bioavailable 
manganese were not found to contribute to 
bioaccumulated manganese as observed by 
the low level of its bioaccumulation. The 
bioaccumulated levels of copper showed 
erratic changes irrespective of changes in 
the bioavailable or sedimentary levels (Fig. 
1). An unexplainable increase in copper 
levels in the burrowing bivalve 
Scrobicularia plana was observed in 
estuaries of England (Luoma and Bryan, 
1982), and it has been suggested that under 
very anoxic conditions, the availability of 
copper could be very high. This can also be 
observed statistically wherein there exists 
a negative correlation for bioavailable copper 
(- 0.5824) and sedimentary copper (- 0.2310). 
However, there existed a positive correlation 
between bioaccumulated levels in the green 
mussel and all other three metals, viz., 
iron (0.3559), manganese (0.0545) and zinc 
(0.3715). Any positive correlation of 
bioaccumulated levels with sedimentary 
metal levels could not be observed for any 
of the four metals. Iron was the lowest of 
the bioavailable fractions in the metals 
studied and manganese was the least 
accumulated fraction. Zinc was the highly 
accumulated metal among the four metals 
studied. A similar higher accumulation of 
zinc has been reported in M. edulis in the 
Belgian coast (Meeus-Verdinne et al., 1983). 
Thus, it could be seen that the control on 
the bioaccumulation of metals is different 
among different metals. A similar 
observation has also been made in the case 
of S. plana (Luoma and Bryan, 1982). 
28 	 S. AANAND, K V. RAJENDRAN*, C. S. PURUSHOTHAMAN, 
NEELAM SAHARAN AND K. VENKATESHVARAN 
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Copper, zinc, iron and manganese in sediments and in the rock oyster Saccostrea cucullata in Mumbai coast

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Copper, zinc, iron and manganese in sediments and in the rock oyster Saccostrea cucullata in Mumbai coast

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