Study of Donax trunculus as a Sentinel Species for Environmental Monitoring of Sandy Beaches on Moroccan Coasts

摘要

Biomarkers are now proposed for evaluation and control of the health of marine ecosystems (Narbonne el al. 1991; Labrot et al. 1996; Pellerin - Massicottc 1994: Mora et al. 1999). At present, they are extensively used in international programs of pollution monitoring (McCarthy and Shugart 1990: Narbonne et al. 1999). However, the ability of biological and biochemical parameters for the biomarker approach is closely related to the choice of sentinel species. Among marine organisms, mussels appeared tobe one of the most appropriate candidates for use as sentinel species. These animals are suspension feeders, ubiquists. sedentary, bioaccumulators. able to survive in heavy contaminated areas and are easily handled (collection and caging). Research in this field has been carried out on these bivalves (N'arbonne et al. 1991; Burgeot et al. 1996; Boucquene 1996; Najimi et al, 1997). But. these mollusks are strictly present in rocky substrate and they can't be used for pollution survey in sandy beach ecosystems.