Sea anemones have often been used as bioindicators of contamination because they are semisessile organisms that rarelly leave their niche, which is why they are conducive to affecting the ecosystem at the local level. The objective of this work is to determine whether the concentrations of heavy metals and trace elements in the anemone Anemonia sulcata vary depending on the source of contamination present. In 2021 seventy specimens were collected at five sampling points and fourteen specimens were collected in each point (Control Zone, Thermal Power Plant, Sewage Pipe, Harbour and Tourism) in 2021, on the island of Tenerife. All the areas studied characterized by a pollution condition had higher concentrations of metals and trace elements than the control area. The anemones from Harbour presented a greater number of metals with a higher concentration than the other study areas.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. All authors declare that the use of animals for this research complies with the requirements of European legislation on the use of animals for experimentation. All samples were collected by researchers in the Canary Islands. Therefore, we faithfully comply with the Code of Practice for Housing and Care of Animals Used in Scientific Procedures.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)