Abstract
The concentrations of some essential (Cu, Zn, Se) and some toxicelements (Hg, As) were determined in tissues (liver, kidneys, integument, and muscle) of the endemic cave salamander, Proteus anguinus Laurenti 1768 and Proteus anguinus parkelj ssp.n. captured in the Planina Cave, Kompolje Cave, and Jelševnik, all situated within the Dinaric Karst in Slovenia. The highest amounts of selenium and mercury were found in the liver of Proteus anguinus specimens from all three localities. Some of the animals from the Planina Cave showed higher concentrations of copper in the liver and muscle. Pigmented subspecies of Proteus from Jelševnik showedincreased values of arsenic in the integument and of zinc in theliver and integument. The liver of the animals contained the highest amounts of the metals analysed and therefore may be considered as a target organ. Metal levels were also measured inthe cave water and sediments. The waters were not polluted withmetals. However, the metals were relatively high in the sediments, but not to levels considered contaminated. In additionto our study of metal concentrations in Proteus tissues andhabitats, several water quality parameters were measured in the water of each locality. The main differences between the threelocalities concerned dissolved oxygen concentration and saturation, while all other physical and chemical parameterswere characteristic of the aquatic environment in the calcareousKarst region.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aljančič, M., Bulog, B., Kranjc, A., Josipovič, D., Sket, B. and Skoberne, P.: 1993, ‘Proteus; the Mysterious Ruler of the Karst Darkness’, Vitrum Ltd, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Bulog, B.: 1993, ‘Ultrastructural analysis of the cristae ampullares of Proteus anguinus (Urodela, Amphibia)’, Proceedings of the Multinational Congress on Electron Microscopy, Parma, Italy, 13B17 September, pp. 469–470.
Bulog, B.: 1994, ‘Dve desetletji funkcionalno-morfoloških raziskav pri močerilu (Proteus anguinus, Amphibia, Caudata) Two decades of functional-morphological studies of Proteus anguinus (Amphibia, Caudata)’, Acta Carsologica XXIII, 247–263.
Bulog, B.: 1996, ‘Analyses of some microelements in the tissues of Proteus anguinus (Amphibia, Caudata) and in its habitat Analize nekaterih mikroelementov v tkivih močerila (Proteus anguinus, Amphibia, Caudata) in v njegovem habitatu’, Acta Carsologica XXV, 309–321.
Bulog, B.: 1997, ‘Preliminary studies of microelement accumulations in the tissues of Proteus anguinus (Amphibia, Caudata)’, Abstract of the XIIIth International Symposium of Biospeleology, Marrakech, Maroco, 20B27 April 1997, pp. 30–31.
Byrne, A. R. and Kosta, L.: 1974, ‘Simultaneous neutron-activation determination of selenium and mercury in biological samples by volatilisation’, Talanta 21, 1083–1090.
Byrne, A. R., Kosta, L. and Stegnar, P.: 1975, ‘The occurrence of mercury in Amphibia’, Environ. Lett. 8(2), 147–155.
Byrne, A. R. and Vakselj, A.: 1974, ‘Rapid neutron activation analysis of arsenic in a wide range of samples by solvent extraction of iodide’, Croat. Chem. Acta 46(3), 225–235.
Chang, L. W. and Cockerham, L. G.: 1994, ‘Toxic metals in the environment’, in L. G. Cockerham and B. S. Shane (eds.), Basic Environmental Toxicology, CRC Press, Boca Raton, U.S.A., pp. 109–132.
Christiansen, K.: 1992, ‘Biological processes in space and time cave life in the light of modern evolutionary theory’, in A.I. Camacho (ed.), The Natural History of Biospeleology, Monografias del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain, pp. 454–478.
Dermelj, M., Istenič, L. and Kosta, L.: 1984, ‘Podatki o nekaterih težkih kovinah v tkivih proteja (Proteus anguinus Laur). Data on some heavy metals in tissues of the europaean cave salamander (Proteus anguinus Laur.)’, Proceedings of the Ninth Yugoslavian Congress of Speleology, Karlovac, Yugoslavia, 17B20 October 1984, pp. 579–585.
Dermelj, M., Vakselj, A., Ravnik, V. and Smodiš, B.: 1979, ‘Applicability of carbamate extraction to radiochemical separation and determination of cadmium, cobalt, copper and zinc in various biospheric samples’, Radiochem. Radioanal. Letters 41(2), 149–159.
Goldfischer, S., Schiller, B. and Sternlieb, I.: 1970, ‘Copper in Hepatocyte Lysosomes of the Toad, Bufo marinus L.’, Nature 228(10), 172–173.
Horvat, M., Zvonarič, T. and Stegnar, P.: 1986, ‘Optimisation of a wet digestion method for the determination of mercury in blood by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CV – AAS)’, Vestn. Slov. Kem. Druš. 33(4), 475–487.
Istenič, L.: 1987, ‘O najdbi črne človeške ribice. (On the discovery of black human fish)’, Proteus 49, 243–244.
KAYZERO/SOLCOI for reactor neutron activation analysis (NAA) using the k0-standardisation method, Ver.4, User's Manual, December 1996, Software supplied by DSM-Research, Geleen (NL), developed at the INW-RUG, Gent (B), and AEKI, Budapest (H).
Kogovšek, J.: 1995, ‘Some examples of the karst water pollution in the Slovene Karst (Primeri onesnaževanja kraških voda na slovenskem krasu)’, Acta Carsologica XXIV, 303–312.
Lindh, U., Danersund, A. and Lindvall, A.: 1996, ‘Selenium protection against toxicity from cadmium and mercury studied at the cellular level’, Cell. Molec. Biol. 42(1), 39–48.
Moore, J. W. and Ramamoorthy, S.: 1984, Heavy Metals in Natural Waters, Springer-Verlag, New York.
Pasanen, S. and Koskela, P.: 1974, ‘Seasonal changes in calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc content in the liver of the common frog, Rana temporaria L.’, Comp.Biochem.Physiol. 48A, 27–36.
Persaud, D., Lomas, T. D. and Hayton, A.: 1987, ‘The in-place pollutants program’, Ont. Min. Env. Tech. Report.
Seiler, H. G., Sigel, H. and Sigel, A.: 1988, Handbook on toxicity of inorganic compounds, Marcel Dekker Inc., U.S.A.
Sket, B.: 1997, ‘Distribution of Proteus (Amphibia: Urodela: Proteidae) and its possible explanation’, J. Biogeogr. 24, 263–280.
Sket, B. and Arntzen, J. W.: 1994, ‘A black, non-troglomorphic amphibian from the karst of Slovenia: Proteus anguinus parkelj n. ssp., (Urodela: Proteidae)’, Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde 64(1), 33–53.
Sket, B. and Velkovrh, F.: 1981, ‘Postojnsko-planinski jamski sistem kot model za preu¡ cevanje onesnaženja podzemeljskih voda. (The Postojna-Planina Cave system as a model for the investigations of the polluted subterranean rivers)’, Naše jame 22, 27–44.
Smodiš, B., Jačimović, R., Medin, G. and Jovanović, S.: 1993, ‘Instrumental neutron activation analysis of sediment reference materials using the k0-standardization method’, J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. Articles 169(1), 177–185.
Smodiš, B., Jaéimović, R., Stegnar, P. and Jovanovič, S.: 1992, ‘Multielement analysis of NIST proposed SRM 1547 Peach Leaves’, J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. Articles 160(1), 101–108.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bulog, B., Mihajl, K., Jeran, Z. et al. Trace Element Concentrations in the Tissues of Proteus Anguinus (Amphibia, Caudata) and the Surrounding Environment. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 136, 147–163 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015248110142
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015248110142