Potential Toxic Elements Determined by ICP-MS in Tissues of Callyspongia fibrosa, Faciospongia cavernosa and Dysidia fragilis from Tuticorin Coast

Three marine sponges Callyspongia fibrosa, Fasciospongia cavernosa and Dysidia fragilis were collected from five different locations of Tuticorin coast, India. Concentrations of Potential toxic elements (PTEs) (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) were measured in the sponges using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer (ICP-MS). Except Cd, Cr and Ni rest of all PTEs among the studied stations were significantly different and the concentration of these PTEs followed a gradient along the collected stations. Among the three sponges C. fibrosa with high tissue content has accumulated significantly higher concentration of PTEs in comparison to F. cavernosa and D. fragilis. Contrasting interspecies difference in the accumulation of PTEs in three sponges is due to the difference in their tissue content. The high tissue content sponge C. fibrosa is seen to accumulate significantly higher concentration of all the PTEs in the coastal regions of Tuticorin and makes this sponge a promising bio monitor for the evaluation of PTEs in the contaminated sites