Adaptation of the PolychaeteNereis Diversicolorto Manganese in Estuarine Sediments

Abstract

In a previous paper (Bryan & Hummerstone, 1971) the average concentrations of copper, zinc, lead, manganese and iron in the polychaeteNereis diversicolorO. F. Müller from several estuaries draining the mineralized areas of South-West England were compared with concentrations in the sediments. Although high levels of copper and zinc were encountered in some sediments none contained high levels of manganese and, in the worms, concentrations of manganese were low and relatively constant. Other estuaries in the area have since been examined, but although thousands of μg/g of copper, zinc, lead and arsenic have been found in some sediments, concentrations of manganese exceeding 1000, μg/g have rarely been encountered. Manganese ores occur quite widely in South-West England but the scale of mining appears to have been small by comparison with that for more obvious contaminants of estuaries such as copper, lead and arsenic (Dines, 1956). However, it is thought that the field observations and experimental results described in this paper can be extrapolated to situations where much higher concentrations of manganese occur.