Seasonal Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals by Medicinal Leech Hirudo verbana

Paper deals with studies of seasonal dynamics of heavy metals concentration in tissues of the medical leeches Hirudo verbana Carena and in the bottom sediments of the Chelbas River (Krasnodar region). Bioaccumulation of Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cd, Pb in leeches was considered. High accumulation ability of the essential element Zn and toxic Cd and Pb was noted. Statistically reliable correlations between Cu, Fe, Ni, Cd, Pb content in tissues of leeches and their content in bottom sediments were revealed.