Relation between the bacteriological quality of the seawater, the sediment and the mussel along the Belgian coast
Declerck, D. (1991). Relation between the bacteriological quality of the seawater, the sediment and the mussel along the Belgian coast. Landbouwtijdschrift 44(3): 507-516 In: Landbouwtijdschrift = Revue de l'Agriculture. Ministerie van Landbouw: Brussel. ISSN 0776-2143, more |  |
| Abstract | The relation between the bacteriological quality of seawater, the sediment and the mussels (Mytilus edulis L.) along the Belgian coast has been studied. In this experiment three bacteriological determinations were carried out namely: total bacterial count, fecal coliforms (F.C.) and fecal streptococci (F.S.). The fecal coliform to fecal streptococci ratios showed that the bacterial pollution was especially from human origin. The mussels and to a lesser extent the sediment are able to concentrate fecal bacteria from the seawater. The power of concentration in mussels and sediment is higher for fecal streptococci. This fact makes it possible to explain the low FC/FS ratio in mussels. The investigations of the relation between F.C. and F.S. showed that both determinations are necessary to study fecal bacterial pollution. With regard to the fecal streptococci a significant relation (P < 0.01) between the seawater and the mussels (r2 = 0.81), the seawater and the sediment (r2 = 0.68) and the sediment and the mussels (r2 = 0.72) has been calculated. These findings show that the mussel can be used as a bioindicator for fecal pollution of seawater. |
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