TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of acute and chronic sediment bioassays with the harpacticoid copepod Quinquelaophonte sp
AU - Stringer, Tristan J.
AU - Glover, Chris N.
AU - Keesing, Vaughan
AU - Northcott, Grant L.
AU - Gaw, Sally
AU - Tremblay, Louis A.
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - Reliable environmentally realistic bioassay methodologies are increasingly needed to assess the effects of environmental pollution. This study describes two estuarine sediment bioassays, one acute (96h) and one chronic (14d), with the New Zealand harpacticoid copepod Quinquelaophonte sp. utilising behavioural and reproductive endpoints. Spiked sediments were used to expose Quinquelaophonte sp. to three reference compounds representing important categories of estuarine chemical stressors: zinc (a metal), atrazine (a pesticide), and phenanthrene (a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon). Acute-to-chronic ratios (ACR) were used to further characterise species responses. Acute sediment (sandy and low total organic content) 96h EC50 values for the sublethal inhibition of mobility for zinc, atrazine and phenanthrene were 137, 5.4, and 2.6μg/g, respectively. The chronic EC50 values for inhibition of reproduction (total offspring) were 54.5, 0.0083, and 0.067μg/g for zinc, atrazine, and phenanthrene, respectively. For phenanthrene, a potentially novel mode of action was identified on reproduction. Quinquelaophonte sp. was found to be more sensitive than several other estuarine species indicating choice of test organism is important to characterising the effects of environmentally relevant levels of contamination. The bioassay sediment results demonstrate the sensitivity and suitability of Quinquelaophonte sp. as a tool for the assessment use of estuarine health.
AB - Reliable environmentally realistic bioassay methodologies are increasingly needed to assess the effects of environmental pollution. This study describes two estuarine sediment bioassays, one acute (96h) and one chronic (14d), with the New Zealand harpacticoid copepod Quinquelaophonte sp. utilising behavioural and reproductive endpoints. Spiked sediments were used to expose Quinquelaophonte sp. to three reference compounds representing important categories of estuarine chemical stressors: zinc (a metal), atrazine (a pesticide), and phenanthrene (a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon). Acute-to-chronic ratios (ACR) were used to further characterise species responses. Acute sediment (sandy and low total organic content) 96h EC50 values for the sublethal inhibition of mobility for zinc, atrazine and phenanthrene were 137, 5.4, and 2.6μg/g, respectively. The chronic EC50 values for inhibition of reproduction (total offspring) were 54.5, 0.0083, and 0.067μg/g for zinc, atrazine, and phenanthrene, respectively. For phenanthrene, a potentially novel mode of action was identified on reproduction. Quinquelaophonte sp. was found to be more sensitive than several other estuarine species indicating choice of test organism is important to characterising the effects of environmentally relevant levels of contamination. The bioassay sediment results demonstrate the sensitivity and suitability of Quinquelaophonte sp. as a tool for the assessment use of estuarine health.
KW - Estuary
KW - New Zealand
KW - Pollution
KW - Reproduction
KW - Toxicity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887819789&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2013.10.002
DO - 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2013.10.002
M3 - Journal Article
C2 - 24176293
AN - SCOPUS:84887819789
SN - 0147-6513
VL - 99
SP - 82
EP - 91
JO - Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
JF - Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
ER -
