Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies

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Harvest locations of goose barnacles can be successfully discriminated using trace elemental signatures

Publication . Albuquerque, Rui; Queiroga, Henrique; Swearer, Stephen E.; Calado, Ricardo; Leandro, Sérgio M.

European Union regulations state that consumers must be rightfully informed about the provenance of fishery products to prevent fraudulent practices. However, mislabeling of the geographical origin is a common practice. It is therefore paramount to develop forensic methods that allow all players involved in the supply chain to accurately trace the origin of seafood. In this study, trace elemental signatures (TES) of the goose barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes, collected from ten sites along the Portuguese coast, were employed to discriminate individual’s origin. Barium (Ba), boron (B), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), phosphorous (P), lead (Pb), strontium (Sr) and zinc (Zn) - were quantified using Inductively Coupled Plasma−Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant differences were recorded among locations for all elements. A regularized discriminant analysis (RDA) revealed that 83% of all individuals were correctly assigned. This study shows TES can be a reliable tool to confirm the geographic origin of goose barnacles at fine spatial resolution. Although additional studies are required to ascertain the reliability of TES on cooked specimens and the temporal stability of the signature, the approach holds great promise for the management of goose barnacles fisheries, enforcement of conservation policies and assurance in accurate labeling.

2016Journal article

Open access

The use of Cerastoderma glaucum as a sentinel and bioindicator species: Take-home message

Publication . Velez, Cátia; Pires, Adília; Sampaio, Leandro; Cardoso, Paulo; Moreira, Anthony; Leandro, Sérgio; Figueira, Etelvina; Soares, Amadeu M.V.M.

tBivalves are frequently used to assess environmental contamination, and are often considered goodsentinel and/or bioindicator species. For that reason the bioaccumulation and toxicity induced by metalsand As in the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum, collected from areas with different contamination levelsalong the Óbidos lagoon (Portugal), were used to evaluate the use of this species as sentinel and/orbioindicator. The results showed that areas in the middle of the lagoon presented lower metals and Asconcentrations, lower total organic matter content and lower percentage of fine particles than areasin the Bom Sucesso arm. In all areas Cr, Pb and Cu were the most abundant elements, while Ni, As,Cd and Hg were less abundant. Results also showed a moderate correlation between total elementsconcentrations found in C. glaucum and in sediment, and thus caution should be taken when consideringthis species as a good sentinel species. The present study also revealed that, in general, C. glaucum fromareas in the middle of the lagoon accumulated higher concentrations of metals and As (Biota-SedimentAccumulation Factor >1) than cockles from the most polluted areas located in the Bom Sucesso arm.However, in all areas, the majority of metals (Cu, Cr, Pb) were found in cockles insoluble fraction whichmay explain low cellular damage and reduced oxidative stress responses observed. Therefore, our resultsmay further alert for caution when identifying C. glaucum as a good bioindicator species. Thus, our findingshighlight the fact that studies should be cautious when selecting species for environmental monitoring,since good sentinels or bioindicators in highly polluted systems may not act in the same way in lowor moderately contaminated areas. Furthermore, our study warns for the misclassification of cockles indifferent ecosystems.© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionCoastal systems have been constantly threatened by pollution,due to the increase of urbanization, agriculture and industrialactivities (Green-Ruiz and Páez-Osuna, 2001; Poulos et al., 2000).Considering this, it is well established that sediment act as a sink fora variety of contaminants, such as metals and metalloids (Buruaemet al., 2012; Hoffman et al., 2002), affecting benthic organisms(Dauvin, 2008). Environmental impact assessment studies haverelied on monitoring benthic community parameters (e.g. speciesrichness and abundance), measuring the concentrations of selected∗Corresponding author at: Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universi-dade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.Tel.: +351 234370782; fax: +351 234372587.E-mail

2016Journal article

Open access

Brain as a target organ of climate events: Environmental induced biochemical changes in three marine fish species

Publication . Vieira, R.; Marques, S.M.; Neto, J.M.; Barría, P.; Marques, J.C.; Gonçalves, F.J.M.; Gonçalves, A.M.M.

The present study aims to examine physiological and biochemical response of three commercial fish species (Dicentrarchus labrax; Platichthys flesus and Solea solea), over contrasting environmental dynamics: an extremely dry (2012) and flood (2014) years, in a shallow temperate southern European estuary, the Mondego Estuary (Portugal). Physiological and biochemical biomarkers were evaluated by a principal component analysis (PCA), which allowed to conclude that severe climatic events affected the set of fish species analyzed, revealing two distinct annual brain antioxidant responses. The drought episode affected the physiological state of the organisms, as well as increased brain antioxidant potential, strongly associated with fluctuations in environmental drivers (salinity and dissolved oxygen), however, ROS have not been effectively neutralized by antioxidant defence system causing lipid peroxidation. During flood episode was stated a general depletion of the antioxidant potential in the analyzed fish species, affected by interactions with chemical compounds, increased by a combination of high precipitation and associated runoff, probably, increasing nutrient and contaminant load at the Mondego estuary. Nevertheless, lipid peroxidation remained low, related to the action of non-enzymatic antioxidants, since that the studied fish species had optimal physiological status and high nutritive reserves. According to the present work we consider that brain enzymatic depletion may be organ-specific, looking to the greater vulnerability of brain's proteins to degradation compared to lipids. The role of enzymatic mobilization on fish brains is not extensively yet known, but our results suggest that brain seems to be metabolic sensitive to salinity and dissolved oxygen fluctuations. This is the first approach made to evaluate the physiological and biochemical responses of the brain of aquatic organisms’ to extreme climatic events and to establish reference values to determine the effects of extreme climate events to aquatic species.

2018Journal article

Open access

Biochemical performance of native and introduced clam species living in sympatry: The role of elements accumulation and partitioning

Publication . Velez, Cátia; Leandro, Sérgio; Figueira, Etelvina; Soares, Amadeu M.V.M.; Freitas, Rosa

The present study reports metal and arsenic contamination in sediments, as well as element accumulation and partitioning in native (Ruditapes decussatus and Venerupis corrugata) and introduced (Ruditapes philippinarum) clam species living in sympatry at the Obidos lagoon (Portugal). The biochemical performance and the human health risks derived from the consumption of these species are also discussed. The results obtained showed that R. decussatus was the most abundant species in all the sampling sites, revealing that the introduced clam has not yet supplanted the native species. The concentration of elements was higher in areas with higher Total Organic Matter (TOM) and fines content, being Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu) and Lead (Pb) the most abundant metals. Clams from these areas showed the highest concentration of elements but the lowest bioaccumulation levels. Furthermore, except for As, higher concentration of elements was found in clams insoluble fraction, the less toxic fraction to the organisms. Due to the low contamination levels and because elements, except As, were mainly allocated to the insoluble fraction, clams presented similar biochemical parameters among distinct areas, with no significant oxidative stress induced. Furthermore, clams from the Obidos lagoon represent a low health risk to human consumption since, except for As, their contamination levels were below the maximum permissible limits defined by international organizations.

2015Journal article

Restricted access