Accumulation of copper, zinc, cadmium and chromium by the marine sponge Halichondria panicea Pallas and the implications for biomonitoring

The use of sponges as biomonitoring organisms has previously been proposed as a supplementary component to established monitoring programmes. This study has shown that the cosmopolitan marine demosponge Halichondria panicea Pallas accumulated Cu, Zn and Cd in direct proportion to the concentration of the dissolved metals in the surrounding medium. High metal accumulation rates were measured. In addition, there was no apparent loss of accumulated metals upon transfer to clean seawater after an initial flushing of the water canals. In view of the large volumes of water passing through the bodies of H. panicea, this species is proposed as a suitable biomonitoring organism.