Heavy metals distribution in the body parts of the cephalopods (Sepia officinalis and Octopus vulgaris) collected from the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the level of some heavy metals in two edible cephalopods; Sepia officinalis and Octopus vulgaris and investigate the distribution and accumulation of these metals in different body parts of cephalopods. The concentrations of seven essential and nonessential heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Cd) were measured in the body parts ( Head, Arms, Mantles, Digestive gland, Ink, and Viscera) of the investigated cephalopods which collected from three sites at Alexandria city from the Mediterranean Sea-Egypt during March 2017. The digestive gland of both species exhibited a similar pattern of some heavy-metal accumulation where it was the major part of the highest concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Cd. The highest concentration of Mn was found in the viscera of both studied species while the highest concentration of Fe was recorded in the viscera of the Sepia and the digestive gland of the octopus. The metal pollution index (MPI) in Octopus (5.95) was slightly higher than recorded in Sepia (4.38). The lowest value of MPI was found in the head and the mantle of sepia while for the octopus the lowest value of MPI was found in their arms and mantle.