ABSTRACT
Among populations of Paracentrotus lividus living near the sewage outlet of Marseilles (North-occidental Provence, France), we have observed, from 1987 to 1990, an increasing proportion of individuals with “dark” gonads including iron containing crystals. We have postulated a relationship with the release in coastal waters of iron chloride from the sewage treatment plant of Marseilles We have completed a first histological study on these “dark” gonads, by ultrastructural observations on the gut and the axial complex. In phagocytes, coelomocytes and enterocytes, crystals are located in the nucleus, vacuoles, lysosomes or hyaloplasm. For P.lividus, this bioaccumulation is due to a necessity for elimination of iron. Crystals, discharged by exocytosis or lysis of the cells, accumulate in the organism. Gut connective tissues are injured, and the axial complex, saturated, cannot purify the hemal substances destined for the gonads which became atrophied. So, we have concluded that there is an indirect toxicity of iron chloride for P.lividus.
