Stress-70 levels in the gills of Carcinus maenas exposed to copper

Male shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) were exposed to five different copper concentrations (0, 5, 10, 50 or 100 μg l−1) for 2 weeks to assess the effects of copper exposure on levels of the stress protein stress-70 in gill tissue. Considerable inter-individual variability in stress-70 levels was evident in all groups. Significantly elevated levels of stress-70 were detected only in crabs exposed to 100 μg l−1 (p = 0.047). It is concluded that stress-70 is not a sensitive indicator of cellular stress in the gills of Carcinus maenas exposed to copper.