Heavy metals in the aquatic environment have todate originated
fundamentallyfrom naturally occurring geochemical resources.
Nonetheless, this has been enhanced by anthropogenic activities
resulting in pollution. Consequently, relationships and partitioning of
heavy metals in the dissolved phase, suspended particulate matter
(SPM), sediments and shrimp ( Macrobrachium felicinum ) were
investigated in five selected sites along Taylor creek, southern
Nigeria. The degree of relationships between the various metals was
dissimilar in each of the investigated matrices. In the matrices
studied, not several significant relationships (P<0.05) were
obtained. Only Ni-Cd (r=0.95), Mn-Cd (r=0.63), Mn-Ni (r=0.64) were
associated in the sediments and in SPM, Zn-Ni (r=0.72), which suggests
that the sources were not common for both matrices. In the dissolved
phase, no strong relationships (P<0.05) between the heavy metals
were obvious. The best relationships were observed for Ni-Zn (r=0.72)
and Cd-Pb (r=0.65). Partitioning coefficients (Kd) of heavy metals
between dissolved phase and SPM were generally low, which is typical
for fresh water ecosystems and fairly stable over the creek all through
the seasons. Furthermore, the bio-concentration factors (BCFs) of
Macrobrachium felicinum were low unlike those of other natural waters.
Thus, the physical state of the aquatic ecosystem points to the fact
that the heavy metals bio-accumulated by Macrobrachium felicinum give
cause for concern when viewed in perspective to community health
issues, as the communities along the creek depend directly on shrimps
as a protein source