Elemental composition of the hydrothermal vent clam Calyptogena magnifica from the East Pacific Rise

Specimens of the hydrothemal vent clam C. magnifica were collected at a depth of 2 600 m from 21 multiplied by N in the East Pacific Rise in spring, 1982. The elemental composition was determined for the total soft tissues, individual organs, and the shell. The soft parts contained irons, copper, and zinc, at 760, 148 and 2 152 mu g g super(-1) dry weight, respectively. Silver and antimony exhibited the greatest enrichments when their concentrations in C. magnifica were compared with those measured in a shallow-water marine mussel, Mytilus edulis . The shell was not a site of metal accumulation or deposition. Within the soft parts; gills, kidney, pericardium, and mantle were involved in the concentration of various metals; the degree of concentration varied depending on the particular metal under consideration. C. magnifica possess metal body burdens which are ordinarily considered to be very high and potentially toxic in other species.