The polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor increases mercury lability and methylation in intertidal mudflats

Sizmur, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9835-7195, Canario, J., Edmonds, S., Godfrey, A. and O'Driscoll, N. (2013) The polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor increases mercury lability and methylation in intertidal mudflats. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 32 (8). pp. 1888-1895. ISSN 0730-7268 doi: 10.1002/etc.2264

Abstract/Summary

The polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor engineers its environment by creating oxygenated burrows in anoxic intertidal sediments. The authors carried out a laboratory microcosm experiment to test the impact of polychaete burrowing and feeding activity on the lability and methylation of mercury in sediments from the Bay of Fundy, Canada. The concentration of labile inorganic mercury and methylmercury in burrow walls was elevated compared to worm-free sediments. Mucus secretions and organic detritus in worm burrows increased labile mercury concentrations. Worms decreased sulfide concentrations, which increased Hg bioavailability to sulfate-reducing bacteria and increased methylmercury concentrations in burrow linings. Because the walls of polychaete burrows have a greater interaction with organisms, and the overlying water, the concentrations of mercury and methylmercury they contain is more toxicologically relevant to the base of a coastal food web than bulk samples. The authors recommend that researchers examining Hg in marine environments account for sediment dwelling invertebrate activity to more fully assess mercury bioavailability.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/40797
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items
Uncontrolled Keywords	Hg;Redox;Bioavailability;Sulfur;Methylmercury
Publisher	Wiley
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