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¹ Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
² University of Tehran, Department of Fisheries and Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, Iran DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v11_4_09 Viewed : 3616 - Downloaded : 3561 In this study the effect of lead on condition indices of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) together with the accumulation of lead in the soft tissue of mussels, were investigated. Studies showed no significant differences in condition indices (TCI and SCI) among the mussels in control and lead treatments. Mussels condition indices decreased during the experimental period, that it caused by function of time, not by metal accumulation. Besides the metal pollution, other environmental factors, such as food availability, could affect the mussel's condition. In our experiment we removed the effect of food by providing same food availability for mussels in control and lead treatments during the experiment. Therefore lead is the main effective factor on mussel's condition indices. Lead accumulation only observed in the soft tissue of mussels. Significant differences in lead accumulation in each treatment (based on time) and among treatments were observed. Our results suggest that the accumulation of lead in the soft tissue of mussels was affected by exposure time and lead concentration in the ambient water. In each treatment highest accumulation at longest exposure time (15 days) and lowest accumulation at shortest exposure time (5 days) were observed. Besides, among treatments, most accumulation of lead in the soft tissue of mussels at concentration of (455 μg L^-1) and lowest accumulation were observed at concentration of (2 μg L^-1). Keywords : Condition index, Dreissena polymorpha, Bivalve Bioaccumulation, Lead contamination