Bioaccumulation potential of marine bivalve seashells on heavy metals along the intertidal zone of selected coastal barangays in malita davao occidental, Philippines

Abstract

This project has two components namely: Project 1 on assessment of marine bivalve seashells and Project 2 on bioaccumulation potential of heavy metals. It was conducted to determine species density, abundance and sizes of marine bivalve seashells, substrate type and the concentration of heavy metals from the collected tissue samples. Transect Line Quadrat Method was used to assess marine bivalve seashells while the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) was used to quantify the concentration of heavy metals. There were 13 species of bivalve seashells identified with Anadara satawi which exhibited highest the density and relative abundance, whereas, Gafrarium tumidum obtained the highest mean for length and width. However, Fine sands substrate exhibited the highest percentage value and was considered as major substrate type in the project areas. In terms of the bioaccumulation potential of marine bivalve seashells on heavy metals, Anadara sp. were observed to have concentration of Zinc, while concentration of Copper was high in Grafrarium sp. However, Lead and Mercury were observed with lowest concentrations in all project sites.