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SEASONAL VARIABILTIY LIPIDS, LIPID CLASSES AND PCBS IN INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS OF RIBBED MUSSELS, MODIOLUS DEMISSUS
Citation:
Bergen, B J., W G. Nelson, S Jayaraman, AND R A. McKinney. SEASONAL VARIABILTIY LIPIDS, LIPID CLASSES AND PCBS IN INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS OF RIBBED MUSSELS, MODIOLUS DEMISSUS. Presented at Estuarine Research Federation '99, New Orleans LA, September 25-30,1999.
Description:
Two indigenous ribbed mussel (Modiolus demissus) populations were sampled approximately every four weeks during 1997 to investigate the seasonal variability of total lipids, lipid classes, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations. One population was located in a highly contaminated area near a Superfund site (New Bedford Harbor, MA). while the other population was located at a relatively clean site (West Island, MA). No relationship was found between total PCB and total lipid at either site; however, a relationship was observed between total PCB and triacylglycerol (TG) concentrations. This indicates that the standard procedure of normalizing organism PCB concentration to total lipid may not be valid, especially when the organism has a low total lipid concentration.
Statistical analyses (principal components analysis and linear discriminatory analysis) demonstrated that the two stations could be distinguished by mussel TG concentration. This field study supports previous work suggesting that high contaminant levels may lead to increases in neutral lipids, particularly TG. In addition, some preliminary evidence indicated that the acetone mobile polar lipid (AMPL) may be useful as a condition indicator in these bivalves.