HEAVY METAL ACCUMULATION IN SEA CUCUMBER ‎ACTINOPYGA MAURITIANA (ECHINODERMATA-‎HOLOTHUROIDEA) FROM CAPE MONZE BEACH KARACHI, ‎PAKISTAN

Abstract

In the present study sea cucumber Actinopyga mauritiana, water and sediment samples ‎collected during September to December 2018. Six heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, ‎and Cd) were analyzed in tissues (muscles, tentacles and guts), water and sediment by ‎atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The average measured levels of heavy ‎metals Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb and Cd in A. mauritiana muscle, tentacle and gut was 42.20 ± ‎‎9.47, 3.14 ± 0.48, 0.38 ± 0.22, 11.42 ± 4.34, 0.03 ± 0.00 and 0.02 ± 0.00; 36.90 ± 8.14, ‎‎3.22 ± 0.60, 0.40 ± 0.27, 10.50 ± 1.70, 0.04 ± 0.05 and 0.03 ± 0.02; 21.54 ± 5.06, 2.32 ± ‎‎0.66, 0.53 ± 0.16, 13.13 ± 2.90, 0.02 ± 0.02 and 0.02 ± 0.01 μg g−1 respectively. It is ‎useful to monitor all metal accumulation in the future.‎