Effects of various pollutant mixtures on immune responses of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) collected at a salinity gradient in Danish coastal waters

The Baltic Sea is a semi-enclosed sea with a steady salinity gradient (3‰–30‰). Organisms have adapted to such low salinities, but are suspected to be more susceptible to stress. Within the frame of the integrated environmental monitoring BONUS + project “BEAST” the applicability of immune responses of the blue mussel was investigated in Danish coastal waters. The sampling sites were characterised by a salinity range (11–19‰) and different mixtures of contaminants (metals, PAHs and POPs), according to chemical analysis of mussel tissues. Variation partitioning (redundancy analysis) was applied to decompose salinity and contamination effects. The results indicated that cellular immune responses (total and differential haemocyte count, phagocytic activity and apoptosis) were mainly influenced by contaminants, whereas humoral factors (haemolytic activity) were mainly impacted by salinity. Hence, cellular immune functions may be suitable as biomarkers in monitoring programmes for the Baltic Sea and other geographic regions with salinity variances of the studied range.

► Immune responses in Mytilus spp. at varying salinity and contamination levels.
► Cellular immune responses were altered by contaminants (Cu and PCBs).
► Humoral factors were mainly influenced by salinity.
► Contaminants had a higher impact than salinity (assessed by redundancy analysis).
► Use of cellular immune responses in regional biomonitoring at salinity gradient.