This study documents the successful use of a mysid, Mysidopsis bahia, for life-cycle toxicity tests. These tests were conducted to determine acute and chronic toxicities of metal (cadmium) and pesticide (Kepone). Delay in the formation of mysid brood pouches and release of young were noted in low concentrations ⩽6.4μg cadmium/litre. Fewer young produced per female and decreased growth were other indicators of effects of Kepone.
Extensive testing has shown that Kepone is rapidly accumulated by estuarine animals when administered in water or food. Flow-through laboratory experiments with oysters, shrimp, crabs, and fish indicate that the food-chain transfer of Kepone is important in predicting Kepone residues in estuarine organisms. The rates of Kepone movement through estuarine organisms were previously unknown; rates of uptake and depuration by these organisms were determined with a regression model that describes mathematically the uptake and depuration of Kepone by these organisms. The model describes biological data as a single equation, thus allowing variations, due to many physical, chemical, biological, and random-error factors, to be analyzed simultaneously.
The direct application of this model to cautious extrapolation will aid administrative decisions that affect water quality. The rates calculated by this single-species model can be also used in developing models that can predict the long-term fate of Kepone or of other pollutants in an estuarine environment.
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