Antioxidant Defense System Alternations in Four Crab Species as a Bio-Indicator of Environmental Contamination

Abstract

The ecological health status of aquatic environment is a determinant for the survival and growth of organisms within such niche. An investigative study was carried out on four crab species – Cardiosoma armatum, Goniopsis pelli, Callinectes amnicola, Portunus validusinhabiting contaminated sites in Lagos Lagoon- exploring their anti-oxidant defense mechanism in the light of heavy metal concentration in the crab tissues. Amongst the measured heavy metals, cadmium level proved to be significantly highest (P<0.05) with range concentration of 0.42±0.12mg/kg (G. pelli)- 0.79±0.06 mg/kg (C. armatum). Contrastingly, lead was marginally low with concentration below 0.01 mg/kg in all the crab species. Organismal responses to environmental pollution showed a high level of biomarkers. C. armatum was observed to have elevated level of superoxide dismutase (123.04±0.01min/mg/pro), catalase (7.74±0.05min/mg/pro), glutathion transferase (18.21±0.02 Hmol/mg pro), reduced glutathione (2.92±0.04Hmol/mg pro) and glutathione peroxidase (61.85±0.06 Hmol/mg pro) above other species with C. amnicola recording the lowest concentration of the biomarkers. With the low level of heavy metals and corresponding high concentration of these biomarkers, the pollution indices within the study habitat are quite modest.

Metal Content and Oxidative Stress Enzymes in Aquatic Crab, Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1802) from Tropical Creeks Adjacent Western Axis of the Lagos Lagoon

“…Furthermore, a number of deleterious effects including oxidative stress from heavy metal bioaccumulation in biological systems have been reported. 5,6,13,21 Oxidative stress and relations to metal concentration The results of the activity of the biochemical enzymes are presented in Oxidative stress in aquatic organisms is induced by many chemical pollutants which may stimulate the production of reactive oxygen species and other oxygen free radicals that can lead to alteration in antioxidant systems. 35 Moreover, increase in antioxidant enzymes activities have been attributed to adaptive responses of the organism to counteract the oxidative effect of generated ROS or resistance to water pollutants toxicity against the damage caused by the excessive amount of oxygen free radicals and oxidative stress.…”

“…3 The assessment of biological effects of chemicals, from molecular to tissue levels, has been considered as an effective biological tool in the biomonitoring of marine ecosystem contamination. [4][5] The biological method of detecting aquatic pollution involved the use of fishes, insects and benthos in assessing the quality of aquatic bodies, serving as bio-indicators of environmental pollution. 6 It is believed that sublethal pollutant induced effects in the biological system will first occur at biochemical and subcellular levels before they manifest at higher biological levels.…”

“…6 Chemical biomarkers such as antioxidant enzymes and evidence of oxidative damage to biomolecules are powerful tools for detecting the exposure and biological effects of pollutants, allowing early detection of environmental problems. 5 Hence, biomarker responses are generally considered to be intermediates between pollutant sources and higherlevel effects. 13 Many reports have demonstrated the occurrence of heavy metals in the muscle tissue of benthic organisms, [14][15][16][17][18][19] and crab responses to environmental stressors.…”

Evaluation of Water Quality and Heavy Metal Concentration across Two Connecting Tropical Lagoons in Lagos, Nigeria

“…The water quality evaluation may be a complicated practice in compound parameters causing numerous concerns in general quality of water (Bharti and Katyal, 2011). Studies on heavy metals levels in benthos, water and sediment of Lagos coastal lagoons have been a major environmental focus especially in the last decades (Moruf and Akinjogunla, 2018;Moruf and Lawal-Are, 2018;Usese et al, 2019;Lawal-Are et al, 2019a;Afolayan et al, 2020;Sanni et al, 2020). Water pollution by trace metal ions is one of our most serious environmental problems.…”

Estimation of selected biological parameters of the Purple Mangrove Crab <em>Goniopsis pelii</em> (Herklots 1851) from a tropical mangrove swamp in Nigeria

“…Although the mangrove crab does not really constitute a food item for the coastal communities, they play a major ecological role in the mangrove ecosystem through processing fallen leaves for feeding (Usese et al 2018). In Nigeria, mangroves are threatened by anthropogenic activities such as pollution and dredging as well as natural phenomenon like sea level rise (Lawal-Are et al 2019) The Purple Mangrove Crab is a brightly colored crab, having a dark carapace with white spots, and hairy red legs with white or yellow spots. Female crab has a wide abdomen for egg storage, while males have thin abdomen covering the gonopods.…”