A COMPARISON OF THE BIVALVE SPECIES DONAX-DELTOIDES AND MYTILUS-EDULIS AS MONITORS OF METAL EXPOSURE FROM EFFLUENT DISCHARGES ALONG THE NINETY-MILE BEACH, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Concentrations of As, er, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se and Zn were determined in Donax deltoides and Mytilus edulis from the area of discharge of two shallow, submarine outfalls located on the Ninety Mile Beach, Victoria , Australia, Donax deltoides occurs naturally along the coast whereas M. edulis were transplanted from commercially cultured stocks from Por t Phillip Bay, Victoria, Tissue was collected from both species for an alysis in autumn and spring 1994, There were no statistically signific ant differences detected in tissue metal concentrations between the tw o bivalve species, Tissue concentrations of Mo were found to be signif icantly elevated in both species collected from the site of a discharg e of effluent containing fly-ash wastewaters sourced from coal-fired p ower stations, Lack of detectable differences in tissue metal concentr ations between the two species together with the relative ease of coll ection of D, deltoides from the sandy intertidal zone provide a good r ationale for its use in monitoring programmes in localities where it o ccurs. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.