Behavioral Changes and Acute Toxicity to the Freshwater Shrimp Atyaephyra desmaresti Millet (Decapoda: Natantia) from Exposure to Acid Mine Drainage

Abstract

Short-term 48 h laboratory bioassays with water from an acid mine drainage (AMD: pH 3.3, 4.4, 5.0, 5.5, 6.4, control) and water from an arsenic containing reservoir were performed with the freshwater shrimp Atyaephyra desmaresti Millet, validated in situ and compared to acidified control water (ACID). Behaviour, mortality and time to death were monitored with the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor (MFB). The shrimps had equal 24 h-LC50s at pH 4 in AMD and ACID. However, after 48 h AMD proved more toxic (48 h-LC50 at pH 5.2) than ACID (48 h-LC50 at pH 4.5). Stress behaviour in AMD consisted at pH < or = 6.4 of a pH-dependent decrease in activity, with disappearance of circadian rhythmicity, and at pH 4.4 a clear increase of ventilation. At pH 5.5 bioaccumulation of metals was higher and locomotion lower than at pH 5.0. In ACID, only at pH < or = 4.4 locomotion became abated and arythmic. Locomotion in the field was equal or higher compared to the laboratory, whereas the ventilation was higher in the laboratory. A. desmaresti is a valuable species to be used in short term behavioural bioassays of AMD in Europe.

Comparison of three shredders response to acute stress induced by eucalyptus leaf leachates and copper: single and combined exposure at two distinct temperatures

“…Lines represent linear regression, R 2 for the two organisms and temperatures are displayed in the graphic. de Bisthoven et al, 2006). Nonetheless with pH values between 3.3 and 4.4 (similar to the ones found in our study for the highest EL treatments) mortality increased and behavioural alterations were also detected and this negative effect may have been amplified by increasing temperature.…”

“…Thus, the toxic effects assessed include those induced by eucalyptus leaf toxins and pH effects under different DOC concentrations. This is important because low pH values such as those found in the two highest EL treatments (Appendix 1) may have adverse effects on the organisms per se Janssens de Bisthoven et al, 2006), and distinct species may have different sensitivities to both eucalyptus leaf toxins and pH variation.…”

“…In the mixture bioassays with EL and copper, low pH and DOC may act as important confounding factors: pH variation may change the speciation of copper with implications for its toxicity, and low pH causes toxicity per se Janssens de Bisthoven et al, 2006); DOC binds copper molecules decreasing its bioavailability (De Schamphelaere and Janssen, 2004). In our experimental conditions, the pH of all test solutions was similar (Table 3) and the maximal pH variation in test beakers was 0.82.…”

Acute combined exposure to heavy metals (Zn, Cd) blocks memory formation in a freshwater snail

“…Here we present the first results demonstrating that toxic heavy metal pollution has a negative effect on cognition in an invertebrate, and that this measure of the potential ecological impact is more sensitive to low pollutant levels than using standard measures of locomotion and respiration (Gerhardt 2009;Gerhardt et al 2005;de Bisthoven et al 2006;Macedo-Sousa et al 2008). Importantly, this memory deficit is only seen at these low concentrations when Zn and Cd are presented together, and not when presented alone.…”

GamTox: A Low-Cost Multimetric Ecotoxicity Test withGammarusspp. forInandEx SituApplication

“…Each test chamber contains 10 animals and 2 preconditioned elder leaves. Every 4 days survival and behaviour of the animals are recorded with the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor for 30 minutes (generating 3 subsequent online measurements) operated by a car battery [23,24]. In these conditions the animals can be monitored in their exposure cages in the stream without disturbance at several subsequent occasions until the end of the experiments after 12 days.…”