The red mangrove crab is an omnivorous endemic species that lives in mangrove areas throughout the Brazilian coast and is a potential bio-accumulator of metals. These ecosystems are usually located in regions with intense anthropic activity. They also have physicochemical characteristics such as fine grained sediments, that favor the stabilization of metal contaminants. This study quantified the accumulation of seven metals (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the sediment and in three tissues (gills, hepatopancreas and muscle) of Goniopsis cruentata that were collected during different periods from two mangrove areas. These mangroves, Cardoso and São Vicente Islands on the coast of the State of São Paulo, experience different anthropogenic influences. The concentrations of metals in sediments were below the established metal concentrations provided by sediment quality guidelines (TEL and PEL) at both sites, indicating no adverse effects on the local biota. The highest concentrations of toxic elements (As, Cd and Pb) were found in the individuals from Cardoso Island, and significant differences were found among the analyzed factors (site, season and sex). The relative concentrations of metals among the tissues exhibited the same pattern, i.e., gills > hepatopancreas > muscle, except for Zn, with the highest concentrations recorded in muscle tissue. The levels of metals in muscle tissue were above the maximum permissible limits established for food by Brazilian legislation.

红红树林蟹是杂食性特有物种，生活在整个巴西沿海的红树林地区，是金属的潜在生物蓄积体。这些生态系统通常位于人类活动活跃的地区。它们还具有理化特性，例如细颗粒状的沉积物，有利于稳定金属污染物。这项研究量化了七叶锦鸡儿的沉积物和三个组织（g，肝胰腺和肌肉）中七种金属（砷，镉，铜，铬，镍，铅和锌）的积累在不同时期从两个红树林地区收集的。这些红树林，圣保罗州海岸的卡多佐岛和圣维森特群岛受到不同的人为影响。沉积物中金属的浓度均低于沉积物质量指南（TEL和PEL）在两个地点提供的既定金属浓度，表明对当地生物群没有不利影响。在卡多佐岛的个体中发现了最高浓度的有毒元素（As，Cd和Pb），并且在分析的因素（部位，季节和性别）之间发现了显着差异。组织中金属的相对浓度表现出相同的模式，即g>肝胰脏>肌肉（锌除外），在肌肉组织中记录的最高浓度。