Determination of trace elements in marine organisms 2. relationship between the body size of sargassum horneri and concentration of iron
Ishii, T.; Iimura, M.; Koyanagi, T.
Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 45(4): 459-464
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-5392
Accession: 005128808
The concentration of Fe in the brown alga, S. horneri, of various growing stages collected on the coast of Ibaraki prefecture [Japan] was determined to examine the relationship between the body size and the concentration of Fe. The concentrations of Fe showed significant differences among 45 samples and ranged rom 66-640 .mu.g/g dry wt. The concentration in algal bodies as well as in each organ of the algae tended to decrease remarkably with increasing body size. The distribution of Fe among the organs of S. horneri was not homogeneous; lamina showed the highest concentration of Fe. The basal lamina of the main stipe accumulated Fe about 5 times higher than the upper lamina of the branch around the growing point. Variation in weight percent of each organ to body weight was observed with increasing body size and the weight percent of lamina tended to decrease exponentially. The decreasing tendency in the weight percent of lamina, which is supposed to be due to the defoliation of lamina or the relative growth of other organs, was very similar to that in the concentration of Fe with increasing body size. From these results, the morphological change with the growth of the alga was assumed to be an important factor controlling the variability of the concentration of Fe in S. horneri.