Tamil Nadu   

Bristle worms' life throws light on seawater pollution

Bristle worms as pollution indicators! "Seawater is the lifeline of these marine creatures and the slightest change in the habitat has an impact on them," P. Vivek Raja, who won the National Environmental Science Academy's `scientist of the year' awardtells M. Dinesh Varma.

Is there a connection between the quality of seawater and the breeding behaviour of polychaetes or bristle worms that inhabit the ocean?

Very much so, says a researcher, who has looked at these creatures with a different eye to find clues to detect polluted water.

After nearly two decades of research, P. Vivek Raja, head of the department of zoology, Presidency College, has established that the reproductive ability of polychaetes is severely compromised when their habitat is polluted. By correlating the reproductive biology of these creatures with the quality of their habitat, Mr. Raja was able to determine the extent of pollution in the water.

Mr. Raja believes that though polychaetes and sea urchins are creatures of insignificant value in the food chain, they are invaluable for biotechnology-related research.

This researcher's study on the marine environment along Chennai has shown that the entire coastline is polluted by a mixture of industrial and domestic wastes. According to the findings, the water was most polluted at the Royapuram fish landing centre.

The polychaetes are cosmopolitan in distribution and could be used to determine the pollution level of seawater anywhere, or can be used for the "biomonitoring of environmental pollution," says the former editor of the biological science section of the Tamil Nadu Journal of Science.

He has now standardised the fertilisation bioassay of the sedentary marine polychaete to assess the pollution level of seawater. Polychaetes usually attach themselves to the hull of ships.

They discharge eggs (as many as 10,000 by a single creature at a time) almost as soon as they are released from the collecting tube to the marine environment in the laboratory.

The rate as well as the quality of fertilisation of these eggs can be used as an index of the marine habitat. The optimum salinity is 34-36 ppt (parts per thousand) at a temperature of 28 degrees centigrade.

The researcher's study stands apart in that it tracks polychaete life from the egg phase, whereas ongoing research centred at Hawaii and Hong Kong tackle the post-embryo stage.

Mr. Raja's laboratory has become a learning room for scores of students from other colleges too. He says Presidency College expects to launch an M.Sc aquaculture course in 2006-07. An inspection team from the University of Madras is expected to visit the college.

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