Abstract
Lipofuschin-containing granules were found to be present in kidney cells in all Mytilus edulis sampled. There were two types of granules present, spherical and multivesicular bodies. It is suggested that the granules may be produced as a response to the excess levels of zinc or that there may be two types of spherical granules. The mussels from the Tasmanian zinc-contaminated population had no signs of degeneration and contained more granules in the kidney cells when compared to the laboratory zinc-loaded animals which showed obvious signs of damage to the kidney cells and had smaller numbers of granules. The main elements found in the granules were P, S, Ca, Na and Zn. While the concentration of zinc in the granules extracted from laboratory-loaded mussels rose from 4 700 μg/g to 12 500 μg/g, the highest zinc concentration was found in the Tasmanian zinc-contaminated mussels (17 700 μg/g) while the lowest concentration was in the Tasmanian control animals (1 400 μg/g). The granules extracted from the Tasmanian zinc-contaminated mussels also contained Si