Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T23:40:18.670Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modulations in Cell-Mediated Immunity of Mytilus Edulis Following the ‘Sea Empress’ Oil Spill

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

E.A. Dyrynda ,
R.J. Law ,
P.E.J. Dyrynda ,
C.A. Kelly ,
R.K. Pipe ,
K.L. Graham  and
N.A. Ratcliffe
E.A. Dyrynda
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP
R.J. Law
Affiliation:
MAFF Fisheries Laboratory, Remembrance Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, CMO 8HA
P.E.J. Dyrynda
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP
C.A. Kelly
Affiliation:
MAFF Fisheries Laboratory, Remembrance Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, CMO 8HA
R.K. Pipe
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Citadel Hill, The Hoe, PL1 2PB
K.L. Graham
Affiliation:
MAFF Fisheries Laboratory, Remembrance Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, CMO 8HA
N.A. Ratcliffe
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The ‘Sea Empress’ oil tanker grounded outside Milford Haven (Wales, UK) in February 1996, spilling ~70,000 tonnes of crude oil and contaminating over 100 km of coastline, causing mass mortalities and standings of at least 11 mollusc species. Intensive field monitoring commenced after the spill, examining immunity and hydrocarbon levels in the mussel, Mytilus edulis (Mollusca: Bivalvia), a commercially-harvested species which can accumulate contaminants. Comparisons of mussels from oiled and reference sites revealed significant modulations in cell-mediated immunity. Elevations in blood cell (haemocyte) numbers and decreases in superoxide generation and phagocytosis were identified in contaminated animals. The immune response of contaminated mussels gradually improved and generally showed no significant differences compared with clean mussels after 11 weeks. By then, total hydrocarbon content in contaminated mussels had declined by 70–90%, while polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content had decreased by over 90%.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , February 1997 , pp. 281 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, R.S., 1994. Modulation of blood cell mediated oxyradical production in aquatic species: implications and applications. In Aquatic toxicology: molecular biochemical and cellular perspectives (ed. D.C., Malins and G.K., Ostrander), pp. 241–265. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers.Google Scholar
Anderson, R.S., Giam, C.S., Ray, L.E. & Tripp, M.R., 1981. Effects of environmental pollutants on immunological competency of the clam, Mercenaria mercenaria: impaired bacterial clearance. Aquatic Toxicology, 1, 187–195.Google Scholar
Anderson, R.S., Mora, L.M. & Thomson, S.A., 1994. Modulation of oyster (Crassostrea virginica) hemocyte immune function by copper, as measured by luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 108C, 215–220.Google Scholar
Coles, J.A., Farley, S.R. & Pipe, R.K., 1994. Effects of fluoranthene on the immunocompetence of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis. Aquatic Toxicology, 30, 367–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, W.S., Wishkovsky, A. & Chu, F.E., 1990. Effects of tributyltin on defence related activities of oyster hemocytes. Archives of Contamination and Toxicology, 19, 354–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundy, M.M., Moore, M.N., Howell, S.M. & Ratcliffe, N.A., 1996. Phagocytic reduction and effects on lysosomal membranes by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in hemocytes of Mytilus edulis. Aquatic Toxicology, 34, 273–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, R.J., Fileman, T.W. & Portmann, J.E., 1988. Methods of analysis of hydrocarbons in marine and other samples. Aquatic Environmental Protection: Analytical Methods. MAFF, 2, 25 pp.Google Scholar
Lunel, T. et al., 1996. Monitoring the effectiveness of response options during the Sea Empress incident: a key component of the successful counter-pollution response. Spill Science and Technology Bulletin, in press.Google Scholar
McCormick-Ray, M.G., 1987. Hemocytes of Mytilus edulis affected by Prudhoe Bay crude oil emulsion. Marine Environmental Research, 17, 107–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pipe, R.K. & Coles, J.A., 1995. Environmental contaminants influencing immune function in marine bivalve molluscs. Fish and Shellfish Immunology, 5, 581–595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pipe, R.K., Coles, J.A. & Farley, S.R., 1995a. Assays for measuring immune response in the mussel Mytilus edulis. In Techniques in fish immunology. Vol. 4. Immunology and pathology of aquatic invertebrates (ed. J.S., Stolen et al.), pp. 93–100. Fair Haven, New Jersey: SOS Publications.Google Scholar
Pipe, R.K., Coles, J.A., Thomas, M.E., Fossata, V.U. & Pulsford, A.L., 1995b. Evidence for environ-mentally derived immunomodulation in mussels from the Venice Lagoon. Aquatic Toxicology, 32, 59–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SEEEC, 1996. Sea Empress Environmental Evaluation Committee: Initial Report July 1996. ISBN 0–9528844–0-2.Google Scholar