Combined effects of food quantity and quality on Cd, Cr, and Zn assimilation to the green mussel, Perna viridis

We examined the assimilation of Cd, Cr, and Zn by the green mussel Perna viridis under complicated food conditions, including combinations of different compositions and concentrations of food (diatom and sediment), and variable food quantity and quality during particle digestion. At different combinations of food composition and quantity (5 mg l(-1) and 20 mg(-1), below and above the pseudofeces production), the Cd assimilation was significantly dependent on the food composition. The Cd assimilation efficiency (AE) decreased with increasing proportions of sediments in the diets, but its assimilation was not significantly affected by food concentration. In contrast, the assimilation of Cr and Zn decreased significantly with increasing food concentrations, whereas food composition did not significantly affect their AEs. Variations in metal gut passage time accounted partially for the difference in AEs among different combinations of food composition and quantity. By changing the type of particles during metal digestion, their AEs were maintained comparably at a low particle load (1 mg l(-1)), suggesting that variation of food quality during digestion did not affect metal assimilation. At a higher particle load (5 mg l(-1)), variation of food type during digestion affected the AEs of Cr and Zn. An increase in food concentrations from 1 to 15 mg l(-1) during digestion resulted in a significant decrease in the AEs of Cr and Zn bound with either sediments or diatoms. Conversely, decreasing the food concentrations from 15 to 1 mg l(-1) did not affect the AEs of metals, except for Zn bound with diatoms. Overall, our results highlighted the metal-specificity in their assimilation as influenced by complicated food environments, probably caused by different metal geochemical and biological behavior in the mussels. Feeding selectivity may have a greater control on the influx rate into the mussels than metal assimilation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.