[The heavy metal content in the soft tissues and shells of specimens of 3 varieties of the Azov and Black Sea mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis].

In representatives of 15 micropopulations of the Black Sea mussels related to three varieties of Mytilus galloprovincialis var. dilatata, var. acrocyrta, var. frecviens the content of iron, zinc, lead, copper and cadmium in the soft tissues and shells has been determined with the use of atomic adsorption spectrophotometry. It has been found that of importance is the content of industrial wastes in the habitat of the micropopulation examined rather than its attribution to some or other variety. In representatives of all the varieties the accumulation of metals in soft tissues was higher than that is shells. By their concentration in tissues the metals examined can be aligned in the following row in decreasing order: iron, zinc, lead, copper and cadmium.