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Effect of Sewage Discharge in Spisula subtruncata (da Costa 1778) Populations

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Abstract

Sewage discharge is a common source of pollution in coastal marine waters. Several municipal treatment plants dump treated water in medium to fine sand Spisula subtruncata communities. This bivalve is generally considered a major food source for demersal fishes, and it is important as a dominant species in structuring the macrobenthic community during the spring and summer months. We sampled within five locations affected by sewage discharge along the Castellon coast (northwest Mediterranean Sea) where S. subtruncata (da Costa 1778) is a common bivalve. Van Veen grab samples were obtained for the study of the bivalve population and to characterize the sediment. The sewage discharges studied affect Spisula populations. In the stations near the outfalls, the abundance and the average size of S. subtruncata decreased. However, this effect did not correlate with sediment characteristics, such as granulometry or pH.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge CONSOMAR S. A. and Entitat de Sanejament d´Aigües for financial contribution to this project. We also we thank the staff of the Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, especially Y. Mugica, M. Diaz-Valdes, and C. Celdrán, for their inestimable collaboration and J. Templado of the National Museum of Natural Science of Madrid for help in identifying the bivalve.

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  1. Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, Ap 99 E-03080, Alicante, Spain

    J. A. de la Ossa Carretero, Y. del Pilar Ruso, F. Giménez Casalduero & J. L. Sánchez Lizaso

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  1. J. A. de la Ossa Carretero
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  2. Y. del Pilar Ruso
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Correspondence to J. A. de la Ossa Carretero.

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de la Ossa Carretero, J.A., del Pilar Ruso, Y., Giménez Casalduero, F. et al. Effect of Sewage Discharge in Spisula subtruncata (da Costa 1778) Populations. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 54, 226–235 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-007-9031-3

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