SKELETON CHANGES IN THE ORIBATID MITES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEAVY METAL IONS ACCUMULATION

About authors:

H. V. Dubinina, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Emb. 1, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia

A. N. Alekseev, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb., 1, 199034 St. Petersburg,
RUSSIA

Annotation:

Among oribatid mites collected in the polluted area in the vicinity of St.Petersburg, some anomalies of their skeleton were checked. It was supposed that such anomalies might be connected with the high level of the heavy metal ions in the environment. Experiments with Oppiella nova cultivated on the substratum soaked by NiCl₂ solutions confirm this supposition. Quantity of the different kinds of leg and notogaster abnormalities increase among progeny of poisoned parents. It is supposed that this phenomenon may have resulted from the accumulation of Ni ions in the exoskeleton of the mites.

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