First evaluation of the status of marine invertebrates in north Corsica ports

Abstract

Coastal areas are the interface between terrestrial and marine ecosystems and are a habitat for 90% of the marine biodiversity. However, these waters are the first impacted by anthropic activities, especially in port areas, due to the maritime traffic or accidental pollution. Following the recommendations of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the first objective of the QUAMPO (QUAlity of the marine environment in the Mediterranean POrt areas) project is to evaluate the environmental status of several ports in north Corsica. Several marine molluscs (mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa and limpet Patella caerulea) were sampled in four sites (reference site in Revellatta Bay, ports areas in Calvi bay, Île Rousse and Saint-Florent) and biomarkers analysis were performed. Biomarkers of oxidative stress (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, malondialdehyde…), detoxification (glutathione-S-transferase…), energetic metabolism (pyruvate kinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase…) and immunity (laccase) were analysed in the digestive gland of mussel and limpet and in the respiratory tree of sea cucumber while bioaccumulation of trace elements and organic contaminants was measured in the edible part of the organism (soft tissue for mussel/limpet and body wall for sea cucumber). Here, the QUAMPO project and our first results are presented. Moreover, development of biomarker reference values will be associated with the monitoring for other parameters such as water physicochemical assessments (temperature, salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen) will be measure in each station, and the concentrations of chemical contaminants (inorganic and organic pollutants) in animals could be also quantified to carry out a qualitative correlative approach. Finally, several biometric parameters (length, thickness and width) will be done to (1) establish results to evaluate the health status of the organisms according the type of ports (marina or fishing harbour) and (2) select the best biomarkers for monitoring programs in order to confirm, for the first time, their ability to appraise the environmental quality in north Corsica coastlines, such as port areas.

Full text

3-7 May 2020
Online
First evaluation of the status of marine
invertebrates in north Corsica ports
Pillet M.1, Dabrowski M.1, Marengo M.2, Gobert S.2,3, Lejeune P.2,
Leduc M.2, Fullgrabe L.2, Churlaud C.1, Huet V.1, Le Floch S.4& Thomas H.1
1Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (UMR LIENSs), La Rochelle Université, La Rochelle, France
2STAtion de REcherches Sous-marines et Océanographiques (STARESO), Pointe Revellata, Calvi, France
3Université de Liège, Centre MARE, Laboratoire d′Océanologie, Liège, Belgium
4Centre de Documentation, de Recherche et d'Expérimentations sur les Pollutions Accidentelles des
Eaux (CEDRE), Brest, France
marion.pillet@univ-lr.fr
@pillet_marion24
STARESO
(Pte Revellata)
Reference site Calvi
port
Île Rousse
port
St-Florent
port
Sampling in January 2020
•Mediterranean mussel
Mytilus galloprovincialis
•Mediterranean limpet
Patella caerulea
•Tubular sea cucumber
Holothuria tubulosa
Mussel is present only in St-Florent while limpet is absent in this
port (sea cucumber is found everywhere).
Limpet seems to be apromising bioindicator species
higher enzymatic activity than M. galloprovincialis
significant differences observed between sites
easy sampling of individuals
The status of marine organisms might be quite different
between STARESO and Calvi ports, despite their close location.
M & M
Discussion
Water bio-physico-chemical
parameters
Trace elements contamination in water samples
Biomarkers of effect (1-way ANOVA to test difference between
location)
Results
•Higher PK and PEPCK activity in
limpet collected on reference site
•Anaerobic metabolism (LDH) of
limpet not affected by the location
•PK and LDH activities not affected by
the location in sea cucumber.
https://quampo.recherche.univ-lr.fr/
(µg.L-
1)
Co Cu Mn Mo Pb
Stareso
< 1 < 2 < 1
< 10
< 1
Calvi
1.0 2.6 < 1
12.7
< 1
Île Rousse
< 1 5.5 < 1
11.0
1.9
St
-Florent < 1
12.3
18.9
< 10
< 1
Ag, Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Sb, Se, Sn, V, Zn below detection limit in all the locations
•
Ostriconi
•All trace elements
are below detection
limit at STARESO
•St-Florent port
presents higher Cu
and Mn
contamination
Direct measurements in
water
•bio-physico-chemical parameters
•trace elements (ICP-MS & ICP-AES)
Status of bioindicator species
•enzymatic biomarkers involved
in fermentation (LDH), glycolyse
(PK) and neoglucogenese
(PEPCK)
•measured by spectrophotometry
•in mussel digestive gland (n = 10),
limpet soft tissues (n = 7) and sea
cucumber body wall (n = 5-7)
First study, in Corsica, to compare the
subcellular activity of 3 enzymes (LDH, PK,
PEPCK), in mussel and 2 other marine species
often used in the evaluation of water quality.
Port operations (antifouling, sacrificial anodes, hydrocarbon…) have a
major impact on the water quality and the marine biodiversity.
Multi-biomarkers approach provides keys to understanding the
effects of chronic complex contamination.
Introduction
Objectives:
•evaluate the chemical and ecological status of the littoral
waters to reach/maintain a good environmental status.
•determine the status of several native molluscs in different
ports in Corsica (France)
•develop a multi-biomarker biomonitoring approach for port
areas