CADMIUM CONCENTRATIONS IN 2 ADULT ACANTHOCEPHALANS, POMPHORHYNCHUS-LAEVIS AND ACANTHOCEPHALUS-LUCII, AS COMPARED WITH THEIR FISH HOSTS AND CADMIUM AND LEAD LEVELS IN LARVAE OF A-LUCII AS COMPARED WITH THEIR CRUSTACEAN HOST

Adults of Pomphorhynchus laevis and Acanthocephalus lucii were analyze d for cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry. Their cadmium concent rations were compared with those found in different tissues (muscle, l iver, and intestine) of their final hosts the chub and perch. Addition ally, the cadmium and lead concentrations in larvae of A. lucii and th eir intermediate host Asellus aquaticus were determined. Regarding the adult acanthocephalans, the parasites showed several times more cadmi um than did the tissues of their fish hosts. In contrast to this obvio us accumulation capacity of adult A. lucii, the larvae contained less cadmium than did their crustacean host. Thus, the cadmium concentratio n in the larval stages was nearly 180 times lower than that measured i n the adult worms. According to the present results, it appears that t he heavy metals cadmium and lead are predominantly accumulated by the adult acanthocephalans inside the fish gut and not by the larvae insid e the hemocoel of the crustaceans.