Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459

DOI 10.1007/s10661-008-0497-x

The use of marine sponge, Haliclona tenuiramosa

as bioindicator to monitor heavy metal pollution
in the coasts of Gulf of Mannar, India
J. Venkateswara Rao · K. Srikanth ·
Ramjee Pallela · T. Gnaneshwar Rao

Received: 18 February 2008 / Accepted: 24 July 2008 / Published online: 13 August 2008
© Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008

Abstract The results of the present research study
indicate that the heavy metal accumulation in the
marine sponges provide evidence as an excellent
bioindicators for monitoring heavy metal pollu-
tion between near and offshore environments of
Mandapam coast of “Gulf of Mannar (GoM),
India”. The heavy metal concentrations in sea
water and accumulation in the tissues of Haliclona
tenuiramosa were analyzed by ICP-MS (induc-
tively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry). The
concentrations of metals in the coastal waters of
nearshore (< 0.5 km from shore) were always
higher than those in the offshore waters (2–5 km
away from shore). Likewise, sponges living in the
nearshore accumulated greater concentrations of
heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn and Ni)
ranging from 2 to 17 times higher concentration
than the sponges located away from the shore. A
positive correlation between concentration levels
J. Venkateswara Rao (B) · K. Srikanth · R. Pallela
Toxicology Unit, Biology Division,
Indian Institute of Chemical Technology,
Hyderabad 500 007, India
e-mail: jv@iict.res.in
T. Gnaneshwar Rao
Geophysical Chemistry Lab,
National Geophysical Research Institute,
Hyderabad 500 007, India
in water and bioaccumulation in tissues was ob-
served. The bioaccumulation of heavy metals in
sponge tissue were in order of Fe > Mn > Ni >
Cu > As > Co > Cd in both the near and offshore
stations. The present results justified that a more
comprehensive monitoring of presence of heavy
metals in H. tenuiramosa of surrounding GoM,
is necessary to help a better mitigation of the
problem.
Keywords Heavy metals · Nearshore · Offshore ·
Bioaccumulation · Haliclona tenuiramosa
Introduction
The Gulf of Mannar (GoM) has a chain of 21
islands located between 8◦ 46 N, 78◦ 9 E and
9◦ 14 N, 79◦ 14 E on the southwest coast of
India, in the Indo-Pacific region. Each island has
its unique characteristics, surrounded by coral
reefs with rich faunal and floral diversity. Coral
reefs are the most diversified and complex marine
ecosystems, and the reefs of GoM are one of
the greatest natural treasures. The Gulf, which
has been declared as a Gulf of Mannar Marine
Biosphere Reserve in 1989 and is a highly pro-
ductive area endowed with 3,268 species of flora
and fauna, including 377 species that are endemic
452
to the region (Venkataraman and Waffar 2005).
During past two decades, the coastal and marine
areas of GoM has been a constant threat and
degradation owing to natural and anthropogenic
perturbations (Jonathan and Ram-Mohan 2003).
Suitability of these areas for a variety of develop-
mental activities like occupation of hundreds of
fisher families, establishment of industries, ports
and harbours, tourism facilities, etc., lead to in-
creased human settlements along the coast and
consequent stress on the health of GoM. To date,
the marine environmental quality of the GoM has
been assessed predominantly by using water and
sediments (Ramesh et al. 2002; Jonathan et al.
2004; Rajendran et al. 2005), with some biota con-
taminant studies that focused on marine sponges
in the GoM (Venkateswara Rao et al. 2006, 2007).
To protect the marine biodiversity at GoM from
the adverse effects of pollution, the Government
of India constituted a law under the environment
protection act (EPA 1986; Krishnamoorthy et al.
2003). Hence, it is necessary to assess the eco-
health of this marine environment by choosing
suitable biomonitor species that provide accurate,
reliable measurements of environmental quality
as required in the GoM.
Sponges have some of the characteristics as
good bioindicators and are convenient tools for
characterizing the state of a marine ecosystem
(Patel et al. 1985; Berthet et al. 2005). Because
of their feeding habits, sponges can accumulate
a wide range of pollutants from both the sus-
pensions and dissolved phases. Sponge commu-
nities can live same locality and are capable of
accumulating metals for a long period, they have
been chosen as indicators to reveal the environ-
mental crises of a selected area. Previous reports
also indicated that the sponge species would be
a suitable biomonitoring organism (Hansen et al.
1995) for metal contamination in ecosystem. High
concentrations of pollutants have been reported
in several sponge species like hydrocarbons (Zahn
et al. 1981), organochlorinated compounds (Perez
et al. 2003), and metals (Carballo et al. 1996;
Cebrian et al. 2003, 2006).
In the recent years, this GoM is heavily threat-
ened by the discharge of sewage from human
settlements and effluents from shore based indus-
tries and fly ash disposed by coal fired thermal
Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459
power plant. Hence, in the present study, a repre-
sentative sponge Haliclona tenuiramosa (benthic
and sedentary species) was chosen as bioindica-
tor and collected from two different areas like
near and offshore localities in the Mandapam bay,
a segment of Gulf of Mannar. Heavy metal con-
tents in the collected water and sponge samples
were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometer (ICP-MS) for the health status of
marine ecosystem in GoM. The bio-concentration
factors (BCF) of sponges were determined using
bioconcentrations of heavy metals in surrounding
waters.
Methods
Marine sponge, Haliclona tenuiramosa (Family:
Haliclonidae, Order: Haplosclerida, Class: Demo-
spongiae) and water samples were collected in
two different localities viz., nearshore (< 0.5 km
distance from shore) at five different locations
[1. Near Regional Center, Central Marine Fish-
eries Research Institute (CMFRI), 2. Mandapam
Camp, 3. Mandapam, 4. Starting point of An-
nai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge (Near Bridge)
and 5. Ending point of Annai Indira Gandhi
Road Bridge (Pamban)] and offshore (2–5 km
away from shore) at the vicinity of Islands [(a)
Near Musal (9.20◦ N 79.08◦ E), (b) Near Manoli
(9.22◦ N 79.13◦ E), (c) Near Pumarichan, (9.25◦ N
79.18◦ E), (d) Near Pullivasal (9.24◦ N 79.19◦ E)
and (e) Near Shingle (9.24◦ N 79.24◦ E)], from
the shallow sub-tidal region between 15 to 25 ft by
snorkeling and skin-diving during collection trips
in 2007 (Fig. 1). Immediately after being collected,
the samples were frozen until the analytical work
was started. The voucher specimens were submit-
ted to National Institute of Oceanography (NIO),
Goa for depository purpose and were identified
at Vizhinjam Research Centre of Central Marine
Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR), Vizhinjam,
Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Treatment of the tissue samples for metal analysis
Each frozen sample of H. tenuiramosa from both
the localities was used for heavy metal analysis
by the method of Mc Carthy and Ellis (1991).
Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459
Fig. 1 Map showing the collection sites in Mandapam coastal area of Gulf of Mannar, India
Briefly, half gram (500 mg) of wet sample (three
replicates each) was digested with 10 ml of 70%
nitric acid (Analytical grade) of SD (Shanthabhai
Dharamjee) Fine Chemicals, in microwave vessel
in an IFB (Indian Fine Blanks Ltd.) Microwave
Oven, India. The programme was repeated once
again to ensure the total digestion of all sam-
ples. After completing the heating programme,
the vessel was cooled to room temperature and
carefully vented in fume hood. The contents of
each vessel were quantitatively transferred to a
Teflon® beaker and evaporated to incipient wet-
ness. The residues were re-dissolved in 5 ml of 1:1
HNO3 /deionized water; and brought to a final vol-
ume of 50 ml. Clear solutions were obtained in all
cases. A procedural blank solution was also pre-
pared. Then the digested samples were analyzed
for heavy metals using ICP-MS (Model: Perkin-
Elmer SCIEX, Model ELAN® DRC II ICP-Mass
Spectrometer (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). The
inter elemental effects during analysis were taken
care of using built in Elan 2.1 version software.
453
Seawater analysis
A simple and rapid method of determining trace
metals in seawater is used based upon metal
complexation with ammonium pyrrolidine dithio-
carbamate (APDC) and extraction into methyl
iso-butyl ketone (MIBK), following the method
of Brooks et al. (1967). In this study, after the
APDC/MIBK extraction of trace metals from sea-
water samples, ICP-MS was used for element
determination.
The collected seawater samples were passed
through 0.4 μm filter paper prior to analysis to
eliminate the suspended particles in order to elim-
inate the additional contribution of metal concen-
trations in seawater. The pH of filtered seawater
(20 ml) was adjusted to 2 with dil. HNO3 followed
by the addition of 1 ml of 1%APDC and 5 ml of
MIBK. The samples were shaken for 2 min and
allowed to stand for 10 min for phase separation.
The aqueous phase was drained and the MIBK
phase was transferred in a separating funnel. Five
454 Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459

milliliter of 25% HNO3 was added and shaken
for back extraction. After phase separation, the
aqueous phase was transferred in a test tube for
further analysis by ICP-MS.
Statistical analysis
with significance levels of 5% on each metal to
test for the significant differences between wa-
ter concentrations and accumulation in tissue of
H. tenuiramosa. The interaction between near-
shore and offshore was also tested for significance.

All values are presented as mean±SE. The sta- Results

tistical difference between metal concentration in
water and accumulation in tissues at both near
and off shore zones was determined using one-
way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s
HSD post-hoc testing. Results were considered
Several marine sponges belong to class-Demo-
spongiae were collected from Gulf of Mannar,
India and only H. tenuiramosa was chosen in
the present paper based on its cosmopolitan

Table 1 Heavy metal concentrations (μg/l) in bottom water samples and metal accumulation in the tissues of H. tenuiramosa
at nearshore and offshore locations
Location As Cd Co Cu Fe Mn Ni
Water samples collected at nearshore areas
CMCRI 0.24 0.09 0.48 0.97 79.42 2.67 4.33
M’ Camp 0.27 0.07 0.27 0.73 42.35 2.35 2.17
Mandapam 0.36 0.12 0.29 0.77 74.53 2.46 1.99
Near bridge 0.25 0.1 0.36 0.86 49.52 2.97 2.67
Pamban 0.34 0.09 0.69 1.08 57.33 1.71 2.45
Mean±SE 0.29 ± 0.02 0.09 ± 0.01 0.42 ± 0.08 0.88 ± 0.06 60.63 ± 7.12 2.43 ± 0.21 2.72 ± 0.42
Water samples collected at near islands (offshore) areas
Musal 0.26 0.07∗∗ 0.15∗∗ 0.34∗∗∗ 6.95∗∗∗ 0.98∗∗∗ 0.73∗∗
Manoli 0.19 0.04 ∗∗ 0.09∗∗ 0.27∗∗∗ 7.68∗∗∗ 0.83∗∗∗ 1.21∗∗
Pumarichan 0.27 0.04 ∗∗ 0.08∗∗ 0.27∗∗∗ 11.64∗∗∗ 1.02∗∗∗ 0.86∗∗
Pullivasal 0.12 0.05∗∗ 0.13∗∗ 0.36∗∗∗ 9.08∗∗∗ 0.65∗∗∗ 0.94∗∗
Shingle 0.28 0.05∗∗ 0.11∗∗ 0.13∗∗∗ 8.64∗∗∗ 1.16∗∗∗ 0.99∗∗
Mean±SE 0.22 ± 0.03 0.05 ± 0.01 0.11 ± 0.01 0.27 ± 0.04 8.8 ± 0.8 0.93 ± 0.09 0.95 ± 0.08
H. tenuiramosa collected at nearshore areas
CMCRI 1.03 0.13 0.35 1.85 1104.32 9.62 6.59
M’ Camp 0.95 0.14 0.56 1.65 905.14 7.65 7.68
Mandapam 0.94 0.11 0.62 1.38 895.55 11.26 8.69
Near bridge 0.73 0.19 0.43 2.34 768.68 10.74 9.13
Pamban 1.09 0.15 0.19 2.42 965.64 9.68 8.63
Mean±SE 0.95 ± 0.06 0.15 ± 0.01 0.43 ± 0.08 1.93 ± 0.2 927.87 ± 54.5 9.79 ± 0.62 8.14 ± 0.46
H. tenuiramosa collected at offshore areas
Musal 0.39∗∗ 0.07∗∗∗ 0.15∗ 0.53∗∗∗ 65.23∗∗∗ 1.85∗∗∗ 1.84∗∗
Manoli 0.59∗∗ 0.04∗∗∗ 0.11∗ 0.35∗∗∗ 56.23∗∗∗ 1.74∗∗∗ 1.97∗∗
Pumarichan 0.43∗∗ 0.08∗∗∗ 0.15∗ 0.41∗∗∗ 47.57∗∗∗ 1.35∗∗∗ 1.26∗∗
Pullivasal 0.32 ∗∗ 0.07 ∗∗∗ 0.24∗ 0.62∗∗∗ 56.35∗∗∗ 2.56∗∗∗ 1.49∗∗
Shingle 0.53 ∗∗ 0.07 ∗∗∗ 0.17∗ 0.56∗∗∗ 48.52∗∗∗ 2.77∗∗∗ 1.56∗∗
Mean±SE 0.45 ± 0.05 0.07 ± 0.01 0.16 ± 0.02 0.49 ± 0.05 54.78 ± 3.2 2.06 ± 0.27 1.62 ± 0.13
Statistical analyses were performed to compare the means of individual metal concentrations in nearshore water with
offshore (between water samples collected at nearshore and islands [offshore] areas) and metal accumulation in nearshore
sponges with offshore sponges (between H. tenuiramosa collected at nearshore areas and offshore areas). The observed
significance levels are presented as superscript to the individual metals of water samples collected at near islands (offshore)
areas and H. tenuiramosa collected at offshore areas. The differences between these values proved significant (* p < 0.5,
** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001) by one way analysis of variance and in Tukey’s “honestly significantly different” (HSD) post
hoc test
Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459 455

Fig. 2 Bioaccumulation
of heavy metals in H.
tenuiramosa (mean±SE
μg/g wet weight) at
nearshore region
(< 0.5 km from shore) of
Gulf of Mannar. Inset
[A]: Concentrations of
each metal (mean±SE
μg/l) in water samples
collected at same
localities. The means
were compared between
concentration of water
and accumulation in
tissue using One-Way
ANOVA. Significant
differences (Tukey’s HSD
post hoc pairwise
comparison): * p < 0.05,
** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001

Fig. 3 Bioaccumulation
of heavy metals in H.
tenuiramosa (mean±SE
μg/g wet weight) at
offshore region (2–5 km
away from shore, near
islands) of Gulf of
Mannar. Inset [A]:
Concentrations of each
metal (mean±SE μg/l) in
water samples collected at
same localities. The
means were compared
between concentration of
water and accumulation
in tissue using One-Way
ANOVA. Significant
differences (Tukey’s HSD
post hoc pairwise
comparison): * p < 0.05,
** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001
456
distribution in both near and offshore locations.
Table 1 shows the mean values of the heavy
metals (Arsenic, Cadmium, Cobalt, Copper, Iron,
Manganese and Nickel) obtained for water and
tissue samples of H. tenuiramosa from the differ-
ent selected sites of the GoM.
The comparison of individual metals between
nearshore and offshore was analyzed by one
way ANOVA and means were compared using
Tukey’s HSD pair wise comparisons test indicated
that the mean values of As did not differ signif-
icantly, however the mean difference of Cd, Co
and Ni (F[1,8] = 20.16, F[1,8] = 15.25 and F[1,8] =
17.38, respectively) were significant at p < 0.01
level, and Cu, Fe and Mn (F[1,8] = 63.96, F[1,8] =
52.28 and F[1,8] = 44.06, respectively) were signif-
icantly different at p < 0.001 level. It is evident
from the results that all the metals accumulated in
the tissues at offshore were significantly different
[Co (F[1,8] = 52.28, p < 0.05), As (F[1,8] = 40.54,
p < 0.01), Ni (F[1,8] = 190.73, p < 0.01), and Cd,
Cu, Fe and Mn (F[1,8] = 27.40, F[1,8] = 46.68, F[1,8] =
255.50, and F[1,8] = 131.69, respectively at p <
Fig. 4 Relative fold
increase of heavy metal
concentrations in water
and accumulation in
tissues of H. tenuiramosa
of nearshore in
comparison to offshore
locations. The data are
derived from the mean
values of Table 1
Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459
0.001 level) than that of nearshore due to high
anthropogenic activity.
The heavy metal concentration in water and
accumulation in tissue samples of near and off-
shore are illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Enrichment
of heavy metal contamination was significantly
high order in nearshore waters than offshore. The
descending mean values of Fe, Ni, Mn, Cu, Co,
As and Cd recorded in waters at nearshore were
60.6, 2.7, 2.4, 0.9, 0.4, 0.3 and 0.1 μg/l, respectively.
While, the corresponding order was slightly dif-
fered at offshore, in which As has occupied fifth
position, possessing more quantity than of Co.
The mean values of Fe, Ni, Mn, Cu, As, Co and
Cd were 8.8, 1.0, 0.9, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1 and 0.05 μg/l,
respectively. The heavy metal concentrations of
Fe, Mn and Ni were much higher than other
metals in both near and off shore samples with
60.63, 2.43 and 2.72 μg/l (out of 67.46 μg/l of
total metals) in nearshore, but only 8.8, 0.93 and
0.95 μg/l (out of 11.33 μg/l of total metals) in
offshore. Similarly, greatest heavy metal levels in
tissues (927.9 μg Fe/g, 9.79 μg Mn/g, 8.14 μg Ni/g,
Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459
1.93 μg Cu/g, 0.43 μg Co/g, 0.95 μg As/g and
0.15 μg Cd/g) were observed inner part of the bay
(nearshore) and decreased (54.78 μg Fe/g, 2.06 μg
Mn/g, 1.62 μg Ni/g, 0.49 μg Cu/g, 0.45 μg As/g,
0.16 μg Co/g, and 0.07 μg Cd/g) towards the outer
Bay (offshore). It indicates the degree of pollution
of the environment in near shore might be several
fold higher than the water far away from the
shore. It could be due to the richness of metal
contents in the near shore environment, which
allowed accumulating more quantities of metals
than the offshore sponges. If the individual heavy
metal accumulation in offshore sponges consider
as one, the relative fold of accumulation per gram
wet tissue of nearshore in decreasing order of Fe
(16.94), Ni (5.04), Mn (4.77), Cu (3.9), Co (2.68),
Cd (2.14) and As (2.1), respectively.
The calculated bio-concentration factor (BCF)
for the different metals in water and tissues of
nearshore locations generally showed the high-
est enrichment of heavy metals that of offshore
collected samples (1 to 3 times in waters and 2
to 17 fold in tissues, respectively (Fig. 4), which
are strongly influenced by the anthropogenic in-
troduction of heavy metals with the accumulation
in the tissues of H. tenuiramosa. The BCF values
of estimated metals in the nearshore decrease in
the following order: Fe (15.3) > Mn (4.03) > As
(3.25) > Ni (2.99) > Cu (2.19) > Cd (1.59) >
Table 2 Bio-concentration factor of heavy metals in the
tissues of H. tenuiramosa at near and offshore localities
Heavy metal Bio-concentration factor in
the tissues of H. tenuiramosa
Nearshore Offshore
As 3.25 2.02
Cd 1.59 1.3
Co 1.03 1.47
Cu 2.19 1.8
Fe 15.3 6.23
Mn 4.03 2.22
Ni 2.99 1.71
Average 4.34 ± 1.87 2.39 ± 0.65
bio-concentration
factor ± SE
Bio-concentration factor = [accumulated concentration in
tissue (μg/g)] ÷ [concentration in water (μg/l)]. The data
are derived from the mean values of Figs. 2 and 3
457
Co (1.03), which has been slightly altered based
on the accumulation in the offshore sponges as
Fe (6.23) > Mn (2.22) > As (2.02) > Ni (1.71) >
Cu (1.8) > Co (1.47) > Cd (1.3), respectively
(Table 2).
Discussion
The use of benthic and sedentary organisms as
biomonitors in the aquatic environment is a suit-
able method for assessing the effects of conta-
minants in coastal waters. The accumulation of
heavy metals in body tissues due to lifestyle and
feeding mechanisms makes it possible to reveal
contamination rates and recovery trends within
polluted areas. Marine invertebrate sponges have
some of the characteristics as good bioindica-
tors and are convenient tools for characterizing
the state of a marine ecosystem (Patel et al.
1985; Berthet et al. 2005). Because of their feed-
ing habits, sponges can accumulate a wide range
of pollutants from both the suspensions and
dissolved phases. Sponge communities can live
several years in same locality and capability of
accumulating metals for a long period, they have
been chosen as indicators to reveal the environ-
mental crises of a selected area, marine sponges
which are benthic, sessile and long life span and
having an ability to filter liters of water per
hour (Vogel 1977), these marine sponges serve as
ideal bioindicators to monitor a confined location.
This filtering mechanism helps them to accumu-
late wide range of pollutants both from suspen-
sion and dissolved phases. Various researchers
have used sponges as bioindicators (Carballo
and Naranjo 2002; Cebrian et al. 2003, 2006;
Venkateswara Rao et al. 2006). As sponges are
sessile filter feeders, which remain at the same
place for a long time on the hard rock surfaces,
factors like temperature have minimal effect on
them as they remain at the same depth for longer
periods. Various factors are seen influencing the
uptake of heavy metals from the surrounding en-
vironment i.e. properties of the element, its chem-
ical form, pH of water, salinity and temperature
of water. It is known that infinitesimally small con-
centration of many heavy metals have a significant
458
influence on biological productivity of the oceans.
The accumulation of heavy metals in tissues of
marine sponges varies from species to species and
organism to organism. As majority of the activities
are carried at the shore region, most of the organ-
isms prevailing around the shore are susceptible
to heavy metal contamination. Previous reports
also indicated that the sponge species would be
a suitable biomonitoring organism (Hansen et al.
1995) for metal contamination in ecosystem. High
concentrations of pollutants have been reported
in several sponge species like hydrocarbons (Zahn
et al. 1981), organochlorinated compounds (Perez
et al. 2003), and metals (Carballo et al. 1996;
Cebrian et al. 2003, 2006).
The concentrations of the metals As, Cd, Co,
Cu, Fe, Mn and Ni in the waters of the Mandapam
coast are substantially higher at locations close to
the coast than the faraway waters (away from the
coast). It appears that these metals might have
not transported to faraway waters (Venkateswara
Rao et al. 2006, 2007). Since, the rate and extent
of heavy metal accumulation in sponges is directly
proportional to the dissolved metal in the sur-
rounding medium. One of the objectives of this
study was to identify useful monitoring organisms.
The marine sponge, H. tenuiramosa fulfilled many
of the requirements of a useful monitoring or-
ganism in that they are abundant in the intertidal
zone, sessile, long lived, and exhibited high accu-
mulation of metals in their tissue (Hansen et al.
1995).
The present study highlighted significant heavy
metal contamination in near and offshore loca-
tions of Mandapam coast along with accumulation
of heavy metals in the tissues of marine sponge,
H. tenuiramosa collected from different localities.
The Gulf of Mannar is endowed with a fragile
ecosystem and the presence of several coral is-
lands supporting a multitude of fauna warrants its
preservation. The anthropogenic activities taking
place in the area during the last three decades
have had a damaging effect on the marine ecosys-
tem as the effluents from the industries close
to the coast are discharged along with domestic
sewage into the Gulf. The present findings may
also be considered as an important warning sig-
nal for the health of existing coral reefs in these
locations. The study also shows that the benthic
Environ Monit Assess (2009) 156:451–459
and sedentary sponge, H. tenuiramosa is capable
to monitor the quality of the marine ecosystem of
the Gulf of Mannar.
Conclusion
A good bioindicator accumulates contaminants
from the environment and accurately reflects en-
vironmental levels. Selection of a proper bioindi-
cator species as a tool for assessing the environ-
mental damage, which is essential in monitoring
any Biosphere Reserve areas. The present find-
ings indicated the accurate assessment of near and
offshore environment pollution status of Gulf of
Mannar, India using a marine sponge bioindica-
tor, H. tenuiromosa. Our results demonstrate that
the heavy metal concentrations were significantly
higher at near shore region due to anthropogenic
input. The present findings may also be considered
as an important warning signal for the health of
existing fish in such localities.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the Task
Force Network Programme of Council of Scientific and In-
dustrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India and Department
of Ocean Development for financial assistance and also
thankful to the Director, IICT for constant encouragement.
The authors, K.Srikanth and Ramjee Pallela are thankful
to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for
providing Senior Research Fellowship.
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