Marine bivalves are bioindicators of coastal environmental pollution, integrating monitoring programs worldwide. Nonetheless, the choice of particular species as an indicator requires validation, achieved by understanding the differences in element concentrations among and within species. The present study compares the chemical composition of whole body soft tissues of four common bivalve species from the Bijagós Archipelago, a pristine region of West Africa. Significant differences were recorded in the concentrations of various elements among studied species, which likely arise from species-specific uptake and bioaccumulation processes. Overall, there was a segregation between a group including the bloody cockle Senilia senilis and oyster Crassostrea tulipa (with high Cd and Zn concentrations) versus the two other species, Austromacoma nymphalis (with low Cu and high Mn, Se, Hg, Pb concentrations) and Diplodonta spp. (with high values of Cu, Al, Fe, V, Cr, Hg, Pb). C. tulipa was sampled in two different substrates (rock beds and mangrove roots), and the two groups revealed different chemical profiles, with significantly higher concentrations of P, Si, Zn and Cr and lower Cu in specimens fixed in mangrove roots. These results strongly suggest the influence of small-scale environmental variability on the accumulation of particular elements. We found extremely high Cd concentrations in S. senilis (27.1 ± 7.53 μg g-1 DW) and identified C. tulipa as another high Cd-accumulating species (ca. 10 μg g-1 DW). Our results suggest a detoxifying mechanism linked with the presence of Se to reduce the potential toxic effects of Cd in these two species. Cadmium concentrations reported for some bivalve species in this area largely exceed the maximum values proposed by the European Union, emphasizing the need for a regular contamination assessment.
Keywords: Cadmium; Intertidal habitats; Marine bivalves; Trace elements; West Africa.
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