Concentrations of heavy metals in the intertidal gastropod Nerita lineata collected from 4 sampling stations in the intertidal zone of Dumai coastal waters have been analyzed and correlated with the respective metal concentrations in their habitat.The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible relationships between heavy metal concentrations in the N.lineata with metal concentrations in their habitat,which include seawater,algal mat,suspended particulate matter,and surface sediment.The results showed that heavy metal concentrations in the sediment,N.lineata,suspended particulate matter,algal mat and surface seawater were found to be higher in stations closed to Dumai city center which has more industrial and anthropogenic activities.The mean concentrations of Cd,Cu,Pb,Zn,Ni and Fe in the N.lineata collected from Dumai intertidal area were 4.14 μg/g,5.90 μg/g,44.43 μg/g,3.74 μg/g,20.73 μg/g,24.91 μg/g in shell;4.16 μg/g,7.31 μg/g,51.78 μg/g,17.63 μg/g,23.52 μg/g,30.60 μg/g in operculum and 0.71 μg/g,15.09 μg/g,9.41 μg/g,94.42 μg/g,5.10 μg/g,398.24 μg/g dry weight in the total soft tissue,respectively.Cd,Pb and Ni concentrations of parts of the N.lineata were in the order:that of operculum>shell>soft tissue whilst Cu,Zn and Fe concentrations of parts of the N.lineata in the order:that of soft tissue>operculum>shell.This suggested that N.lineata could be used as biomonitoring agent for Cu,Zn and Fe(soft tissues)and for Cd,Pb and Ni(operculum).However,the shell had significant correlations(P<0.05)with metal concentrations in the sediment,algal mat,suspended particulate matter and seawater.Bioconcentration factor(BCF)values of the shell also revealed greater capacity for non-essential metals bioaccumulation from all environmental phases.This might suggest that the shell of N.lineata could be better used as biomonitoring agent for heavy metal pollution. Concentrations of heavy metals in the intertidal gastropod Nerita lineata collected from 4 sampling stations in the intertidal zone of Dumai coastal waters have been analyzed and correlated with the each metal concentration in their habitat. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible relationships between heavy metal concentrations in the N.lineata with metal concentrations in their habitat, which include seawater, algal mat, suspended particulate matter, and surface sediment. The results showed that heavy metal concentrations in the sediment, N.lineata, suspended particulate matter, algal mat and surface seawater were found to be higher than stations closed to Dumai city center which has more industrial and anthropogenic activities. The mean concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and Fe in the N. lineata collected from Dumai intertidal area were 4.14 g / g, 5.90 μg / g, 44.43 μg / g, 3.74 μg / g, 20.73 μg / g, 24.91 μg / g in shell; 4.16 μg / g, 7.31 μg / g, 51.78 μg / g, 17.63 μg / g , 23.52 μg / g, 30. 60 μg / g in operculum and 0.71 μg / g, 15.09 μg / g, 9.41 μg / g, 94.42 μg / g, 5.10 μg / g, 398.24 μg / g dry weight in the total soft tissue, Ni concentrations of parts of the N.lineata were in the order: that of operculum> shell> soft tissue whilst Cu, Zn and Fe concentrations of parts of the N.lineata in the order: that of soft tissue> operculum> shell.This suggested that N.lineata could used as a biomonitoring agent for Cu, Zn and Fe (soft tissues) and for Cd, Pb and Ni (operculum) .However, the shell had significant correlations (P <0.05) with metalization in the sediment , algal mat, suspended particulate matter and seawater. Bioconcentration factor (BCF) values ​​of the shell also reveals greater capacity for non-essential metals bioaccumulation from all environmental phases. This might suggest that the shell of N. lineata could be better used as biomonitoring agent for heavy metal pollution.