Freshwater crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) accumulates and depurates copper.

Cu accumulation and depuration in various tissues of the crayfish Astacus leptodactylus was investigated. Adult specimens were exposed to 0.5, 2.5 and 5.0 mg Cu/L under static conditions for three weeks. At the end of the 3rd week the specimens were divided into three groups and left in dechlorinated water for either 1, 2 or 3 weeks for depuration. After 7, 14 and 21 days, four crayfish from each group were instantaneously sacrificed. All crayfish were dissected into their hepatopancreas, gill, abdominal muscle and exoskeleton tissues for evaluation of Cu accumulation in each. The following accumulation pattern was obtained in decreasing order; hepatopancreas > gills > exoskeleton > abdominal muscles with values of 94.13, 84.86, 66.13 and 11.43 mg/L, respectively. The observed Cu depuration throughout the study was found to be time-dependent. Based on the present work we conclude that crayfish has a great potential for rapid accumulation and depuration of Cu in fresh water.