Monitoring pollution in East Algerian coasts using biochemical markers in the polychaete annelid Perinereis cultrifera

摘要

The aim of this study was to assess the marine environment quality along the east Algerian coasts using an approach based on biomarkers in the polychaete Perinereis cultrifera. Individuals were collected from three sites (Skikda, Annaba and El-Kala) based on the level of pollution. The non urbanized site of El-Kala was considered as a healthy reference site. The biomarkers selected during this study were the activities of acetylcholinesterase as neurotoxicity marker, glutathione S-transferase as phase II enzyme and catalase as oxidative stress marker. The results show differences between sites compared with the reference samples. This approach confirms that individuals from Skikda and Annaba have been submitted to highly polluted environment. Individuals collected from Skikda show the highest reduction of the mean fresh weight, length and number of setigers as well as the highest inhibition or induction of enzyme activities indicating a highly contamination status.