Metal content of an invasive Long Island Sound tunicate

INOR 200

Barry L. Westcott, westcottb@ccsu.edu1, Martin Kapper, kapper@ccsu.edu2, Krystal L. Brown, brownkry@ccsu.edu1, and Hasiba Pehratovic, pehratovich@aol.com3. (1) Department of Chemistry, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 06050, (2) Department of Biomolecular Science, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 06050, (3) Central Connecticut State Univeristy, New Britain, CT 06050
Long Island Sound is a rich and diverse ecosystem providing Connecticut residents with a source for recreation, business opportunities, and agriculture (or, more correctly, aquiculture). Environmental contamination—real or perceived—is undoubtedly distressing to the fragile Sound ecosystem, invasive species cause a more immediate concern. A recently introduced species has started to cause concern among lobsterman and oyster farmers: the Indian Ocean tunicates of the genus Didemnum. Didemnum aggressively propagate in tight colonies that often look more like a single solid mass that overruns available habitat for native hard-substrate species. Because of the paucity of published reports concerning the biochemistry of this genus, we are starting from first principles to determine 1) the nature of metal uptake and assembly compared to bioavailability, and 2) any differences between Didemnum in Long Island Sound to the native colonies in the Indian Ocean. This report provides preliminary data on the transition metal content of samples taken from Long Island Sound.
 

Environmental Aspects of Inorganic Chemistry
7:00 PM-10:00 PM, Sunday, August 19, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007