Use of survival rates of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus as a bioindicator of pollution.

Abstract

Concentrations of heavy metals and trace elements in marine environments have increasingly become a problem for several ocean ecosystems, due to increments in pollution. Habitats daily exposed to extreme conditions, such as the intertidal rocky platforms and pools, are more vulnerable to pollution effects. In the coast of Punta del Hidalgo (Tenerife, Spain), we have located a water-treatment plant that could be pouring periodically pollutants to the near shore. We studied coverage and survival rates of the cirriped Chthamalus stellatus inhabiting the intertidal near the sewage pipe of the water plant of ​Punta del Hidalgo and in a control area in a proximate location. Concurrently, water samples from intertidal pools were obtained from both affected and control areas in order to corroborate the presence of pollutants, analyzing the concentrations of metals and trace elements. The results obtained clarified that the area near the underwater outfall presented higher percentage of coverage and mortality of C. stellatus than the control zone. The analysis of metal content in water samples also showed higher concentrations of metals for the affected area compared to the control one. We therefore propose the use of survival rates of populations of C. stellatus in the intertidal as bioindicators of metal pollution.