Metal concentrations in Helix pomatia, Helix aspersa and Arion rufus: a comparative study

In this study we evaluated the differences between concentrations of copper , iron, zinc, manganese, lead and cadmium in three terrestrial gastropods: Helix pomatia, Helix aspersa and Arion rufus, collected in a semi-rural loc ation in Northern Italy. Metal concentrations in the foot and in the digest ive gland were measured. In the hepatopancreas, copper and zinc did not dif fer significantly in the three species; the levels of copper were also simi lar in the foot. In comparison to Helix sps., A. rufus demonstrated lower c oncentrations of manganese and cadmium in the hepatopancreas and higher con centrations in the foot. In the slug the mucus produced in the foot could r epresent an efficient elimination mechanism of some elements. We also inves tigated correlations between the trace element content in the soft tissues and the mollusk size (weight of the body and height of the shell). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.