Uptake and distribution of copper sulfate and its effect on the respiration rate of the hemocyanin-producing freshwater snail Lymnaea natalensis

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01705433· OSTI ID:6877967

Wolmarans, C T; Yssel, E

Copper sulfate was one of the earliest compounds suggested as a molluscicide and although several new compounds have since been developed, copper sulfate is still widely used against freshwater snail intermediate hosts of trematode parasites causing bilharzia. However, the toxic effect that copper sulfate may have on these species has not yet been investigated adequately. This incomplete picture of the action of copper sulfate on freshwater snails is further complicated by the fact that some of these snail species have hemocyanin (a protein containing copper) as respiration pigment. Because of the existence of a copper metabolic pathway, these species may handle external copper differently from those species with hemoglobin as respiration pigment. In the present study, the uptake of external copper in the form of copper sulfate, as well as the effect of this ion on respiration rate, was investigated in Lymnaea natalensis, the intermediate host of Fasciola gigantica. This snail possesses hemocyanin as respiratory pigment.

• Research Organization: Potchefstroom Univ. for Christian Higher Education (South Africa)
• OSTI ID: 6877967
• Journal Information: Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States), Journal Name: Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States) Vol. 41:2; ISSN BECTA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
COPPER COMPOUNDS
COPPER SULFATES
DISTRIBUTION
HEMOCYANIN
INVERTEBRATES
METALLOPROTEINS
MOLLUSCS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSIOLOGY
PROTEINS
RESPIRATION
SNAILS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
UPTAKE