The Distribution of the Major and Some Minor Elements in Marine Animals Part II. Molluscs

Abstract

INTRODUCTION It has been known for a long time that the soft tissues of molluscs contain relatively high concentrations of certain trace elements—mainly transition metals (see, for example, Vinogradov, 1953; Bowen, 1966). However, with the exception of the work by Brooks & Rumsby (1965) on the occurrence of 12 elements in 3 New Zealand bivalves, most of the investigations have concerned the distribution of only one or two elements. This has prevented a study being made of possible interelement correlations. The present work was carried out in an endeavour to determine the usual levels of several minor elements in a variety of molluscs from the Irish Sea and to seek evidence for such correlations.