Area Oceanografía Química, Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO-CONICET), Complejo Científico-Tecnológico Bahía Blanca (CCT-CONICET-BBca), Edificio E-1, Casilla de Correo 804, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
Sci Total Environ. 2010 Jan 1;408(3):531-6. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.09.051. Epub 2009 Nov 10.
The semiterrestrial burrowing crab Neohelice granulata is one of the main inhabitants of the supratidal and intertidal zones of brackish salt marshes, estuaries and coastal lagoons from South America's Atlantic littoral. A large population of this species spreads out Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (in Argentina) and its corresponding wetlands, and is considered as a key species within this system. Since high values of dissolved heavy metals (including Zn) have been recently reported within Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, with levels unusually higher than those from other coastal systems within Argentina, it has been explored that the existence of a risk of environmental conditions endanger these populations. So, juveniles of this estuarine crab were experimentally exposed to increasing concentrations of dissolved Zn (i.e., 0, 0.5 and 1 mg Zn(2+)L(-1)) during six months, the time involved between two successive molts; in addition, both the size and weight reached after each molt were also studied in this assay. It can be concluded that zinc can be toxic to crabs only at high concentrations. Considering that levels up to 1 mg ZnL(-1) were recently reported in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon waters, the potential occurrence of mean chronic effects on the crab population within the coastal lagoon is discussed.
穴居沙蟹是一种半陆生的掘洞蟹，主要栖息于南美洲大西洋沿岸的潮间带和潮下带的半咸水盐沼、河口和沿海泻湖。大量的这种物种分布在阿根廷的马奇奎塔沿海泻湖及其相应的湿地，被认为是该系统中的关键物种。由于最近在马奇奎塔沿海泻湖报告了高浓度的溶解重金属（包括锌），其水平明显高于阿根廷其他沿海系统，因此已经探索了存在环境条件风险会威胁这些种群的可能性。因此，在 6 个月的时间里，实验中将这种港湾蟹的幼体暴露于逐渐增加的溶解锌浓度（即 0、0.5 和 1 mg Zn(2+)L(-1))中，这是两次蜕皮之间的时间间隔；此外，在该实验中还研究了每次蜕皮后达到的大小和重量。可以得出结论，锌只有在高浓度时才对螃蟹有毒。考虑到最近在马奇奎塔沿海泻湖水域报告的锌浓度高达 1 mg ZnL(-1)，讨论了在沿海泻湖的螃蟹种群中可能发生的慢性平均效应。
