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1. Callianassa tyrrhena shrimps were exposed to 0.2–0.8 mg Cd/l of sea-water for 2–8 days and hepatopancreas extracts were analysed. 2. Cadmium accumulation was dose- and time-dependent with the metal concentration being 7–12 times higher in hepatopancreas than in the total of the rest of body tissues. 3. Soluble cadmium was found bound to proteins of apparent molecular size > 70,000, 15,000 and 7500; the latter two being the major forms in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. 4. Cadmium caused significant changes in the protein components of tissue extracts observed by electrophoresis and RP-HPLC techniques. 5. In vitro, cadmium inhibited glutathione S-transferase and esterase activity. In contrast, in vivo, cadmium caused a dose-dependent increase in activity of the above enzymes. For esterases, this was caused by the differential activation of multiple molecular forms. 6. Cadmium affected differently alkaline phosphatase activity in vivo with an increase at low- and a decrease at high-metal concentrations.