title: Assessing the quality of marine coastal environments: comparison of scope for growth and Microtox bioassay results of pollution gradient areas in eastern Mediterranean (Greece).
abstract: Methods for assessing the quality of marine coastal environments are numerous and rapidly evolving. The integration of physiological parameters termed as Scope for Growth (SfG) and the luminescent bioassay Microtox were applied in several sites of Saronikos and Amvrakikos Gulfs (Greece) to assess the environmental quality and compare the results of the two methods. Each site in the two areas undergoes different types and levels of pollution. Both methods could identify a pollution gradient reflecting the quality of each site. A very good linear correlation was noticed between the two methods (r = 0.98). The stress order, which was similar in both methods, exhibited the expected pollution gradient according to the pressure that each site undergoes. Results suggest that for screening and fast isolation of polluted sites before further analysis, the rapid and simple Microtox assay could operate as an alternative to the more complex SfG method.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Marine Research, Agios Kosmas, Athens, Greece. ecotou@posidon.ncmr.gr
authors.forename: Efthimia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cotou
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papathanassiou
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsangaris
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006115:Greece; D016014:Linear Models; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014733:Vibrio / Q000187:drug effects; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical