RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Sewage Pipe Waters Affect Colour Composition in Palaemon Shrimp from the Intertidal in the Canary Islands: A New Non-lethal Bioindicator of Anthropogenic Pollution
A1 Alcázar Treviño, Jesús
A1 Lozano Bilbao, Enrique
A2 Ingeniería Industrial
A2 Department of Industrial EngineeringUniversity of La Laguna, P.O. Box 456, 38200 La Laguna, Spain
K1 rockpool shrimp
K1 colourimetry
K1 pollution
K1 wastewater
K1 intertidal
K1 bioindicator
AB Marine pollution through anthropic outfalls like sewage pipes is a growing concern sincepoint-source pollution can affect many organisms. Investigating pollutant concentrations in organisms usually requires sacrificing the organisms, but here we propose a new method to infer anthropic pollution in the intertidal by measuring colour levels in Palaemon elegans rockpool shrimp.We took pictures of live shrimp from pools near sewage pipes and control zones in three of theCanary Islands (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife), and measured their RGB (red, green andblue) abdominal colour composition. We then statistically compared colours from the control zoneand sewage pipe and between islands. We found a clear differentiation in colour composition between the control zone and areas with a sewage pipe. Our results supported the hypothesis thatpollution affects colouration in these invertebrates. We, therefore, suggest the use of darker colourations in P. elegans as a bioindicator of anthropic pollution, a first sign that should spur more indepth studies in the affected area. This methodology is pollutant unspecific but non-extractive, sowe propose its use as a citizen science tool to inform scientists and technicians of possible illegaland/or untreated wastewater that could affect intertidal biota.
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/34719
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/34719
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 15-may-2024