The sandhopper Talitrus saltator as a trace metal biomonitor in the Gulf of Gdansk, Poland

There are significant differences between the accumulated trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ag, Ni, Fe, Mn) of the talitrid amphipod crustacean Talitrus saltator collected from the strandline of sites around the Gulf of Gdansk, Southern Baltic in July 1996, after allowance for size effects by analysis of covariance. These have resulted from significant geographical differences in the local bioavailabilities of trace metals, which are variably dependent on outflows from the River Vistula (Zn, Cd, Fe, Mn) or from local sources around the Gulf (Cu, Pb). The use of an easily collected littoral organism has established a baseline measure of local trace metal pollution against which future changes can be compared.