Freshwater crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) accumulates and depurates copper Utku Guner Received: 13 February 2006 / Accepted: 30 November 2006 / Published online: 8 February 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract Cu accumulation and depuration in various tissues of the crayfish Astacus leptodactylus was investigated. Adult specimens were exposed to 0.5, 2.5 and 5.0 mg Cu/L under static conditions for three weeks. At the end of the 3rd week the specimens were divided into three groups and left in dechlorinated water for either 1, 2 or 3 weeks for depuration. After 7, 14 and 21 days, four crayfish from each group were instantaneously sacrificed. All crayfish were dissected into their hepatopancreas, gill, abdominal muscle and exoskeleton tissues for evaluation of Cu accumulation in each. The following accumulation pattern was obtained in decreasing order; hepatopancreas > gills > exoskeleton > abdominal muscles with values of 94.13, 84.86, 66.13 and 11.43 mg/L, respectively. The observed Cu depuration throughout the study was found to be time-dependent. Based on the present work we conclude that crayfish has a great potential for rapid accumulation and depuration of Cu in fresh water. Keywords Astacus leptodactylus . Accumulation . Copper . Depuration Introduction Cu is essential for several aquatic species such as Cyprinus carpio and Oncorhynchus mykiss (Eiseler 1998). Crustaceans accumulate some metals includ- ing Cu in their bodies directly proportional to the increase in bioavailability from water and food-chains (Rainbow 1997). Tissue levels of Cu can be regulated by decapod crustaceans at concentrations of dissolved metals below a threshold level (Bryan 1968; White and Rainbow 1982). However it may become toxic when present in high enough concentrations in the environment. It is among the most toxic heavy metals in freshwater biota and often accumulates and causes irreversible harm to some species, e.g. bay scallop (Argopecten irradians), lesser blue crab (Callinectes similes), zebra fish (Brachydanio rerio) at concen- trations just above levels required for growth and reproduction (Eiseler 1998). Convincing demonstrations have shown that in a polluted environment crayfish are able to accumulate a considerable amount of heavy metals in their organs and tissues (Anderson et al. 1997a, b; Allinson et al. 2000; Christopher et al. 2001; Mackeviciene 2002). The only reported investigation on the crayfish A. leptodactylus appears to be that of Bagatto and Alikhan (1987) in which an attempt was made to demonstrate only the accumulation of Cu and Cd in its body tissues. However, no attempt has yet been made to show depuration of Cu in A. leptodactylus. Environ Monit Assess (2007) 133:365–369 DOI 10.1007/s10661-006-9590-1 U. Guner (*) Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Department of Biology, Trakya University, 22030 Edirne, Turkey e-mail: uguner@trakya.edu.tr A5