An In Situ Bioassay Integrating Individual and Biochemical Responses Using Small Fish Species

Castro, Bruno B.; Sobral, Olímpia; Guilhermino, Lúcia; Ribeiro, Rui

doi:10.1007/s10646-003-4427-y

Cited by 78 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…The regression model revealed that the temperature, salinity, and the interaction between salinity and the sediment silt content, prevailing during the 48-h exposure, significantly influenced postexposure feeding. Thus, environmental factors may act as confounding factors during in situ assays and, in the absence of in situ control chambers (as used by other scientists [37,38,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]) and/or of ideal reference sites, regression models such as this one may become valuable tools, confirming the conclusions of other studies that also used regression models to adjust in situ results [9,10,19,32,37,38,45,50].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

An estuarine mudsnail in situ toxicity assay based on postexposure feeding

Krell¹,

Moreira‐Santos²,

Ribeiro³

2011

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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In situ assays provide more realistic exposure scenarios than laboratory assays, which is particularly pertinent for estuaries because exposure conditions are difficult to simulate. Traditionally, sublethal toxicity testing endpoints, such as growth, emergence, and reproduction, imply time-delayed extrapolations from individuals to populations, communities, and ecosystems. Sublethal responses mechanistically linked to ecosystem functions have been largely neglected. Feeding is an unequivocal ecologically meaningful response because its impairment has direct and immediate effects on ecosystems, by hampering key functions such as organic matter decomposition, long before its effects at the individual level have consequences at successively higher levels of biological organization. The ultimate goal of the present study was to widen the range of ecosystem functions for estuarine quality assessments. Specifically, a short-term in situ assay based on the postexposure feeding of the mudsnail Hydrobia ulvae is presented. Methodologies to quantify precisely postexposure egestion as a surrogate of feeding were achieved. A multiple regression model from laboratory experiments was successfully applied to an in situ assay at reference (Mira River) and contaminated Portuguese estuaries (Sado River) for predicting reference results and allowing unraveling confounding factors during exposure (temperature, salinity, sediment grain size). Sensitivity comparisons of postexposure feeding with survival and growth, after Cu exposure, were carried out and used for a first preliminary appraisal of the relative consequences of ecosystem-level immediate effects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

An estuarine mudsnail in situ toxicity assay based on postexposure feeding

Krell¹,

Moreira‐Santos²,

Ribeiro³

2011

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

Self Cite

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“…Postexposure feeding rate has recently been explored as a sublethal endpoint with great potential for use in situ [15][16][17][18][19]. These assays typically involve exposure of test organisms to a specified quantity of food for a brief period (e.g., 1 h) in the laboratory after a short-term (e.g., 48 h) laboratory or field exposure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A postexposure feeding assay using the marine polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata suitable for laboratory and in situ exposures

Rosen

Miller

2011

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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This study examined the suitability for the use of the polychaetous annelid Neanthes arenaceodentata in a short-term sublethal bioassay based on postexposure feeding rate. Quantification of feeding rate was determined by an approximately 1-h feeding period to Artemia franciscana nauplii after a 48-h aqueous exposure. Both lethality and feeding rate were assessed after exposure to Cu and phenanthrene, with the Cu results being compared with those available from similar studies that used the polychaete Hediste diversicolor. Laboratory assessment on the effect of manipulating two common variables in estuarine environments (temperature and salinity) on postexposure feeding to both clean and Cu-spiked seawater samples was also conducted. The 48- and 96-h median lethal concentrations (LC50s) for Cu were 156 and 80 µg/L, respectively, whereas the 48-h median effective concentration (EC50) determined by feeding rate was 57 µg/L. The 48-h LC50 for phenanthrene was 2,224 µg/L, whereas the 48-h feeding rate EC50 was 345 µg/L (more sensitive by a factor of >6). The sensitivity of the postexposure feeding rate endpoint to two representative chemicals that are frequently elevated in contaminated sediments, in addition to rapid exposure time, ecological relevance, and relatively simple approach, suggest that this assay with N. arenaceodentata has potential for use as a tool for sublethal effects assessment, with particular promise for in situ applications. The utility of this assay in actual marine and estuarine sediments is being assessed in situ at several North American sediment sites, and will be reported in future publications.

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“…In the present study, average temperature during autumn and winter was close to the range indicated as triggering both quiescence in eels and WSS. Furthermore, several important changes compatible to a combined effect of cold and chemical stress were observed in the contaminated estuaries of Lima and Douro Rivers during the autumn and winter: (1) low K and LSI indexes suggesting that lipid storages are decreased in these populations; (2) neurotoxic effects due to AChE inhibition which may impair feeding as found in studies performed with other fish species (Castro et al 2004a); and (3) lower antioxidant capacity increasing the vulnerability of eels to oxidative stressors. Overall, these changes may increase the mortality in the population during cold seasons or increase the accumulation of pollutants in already vulnerable eels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Yellow eel (Anguilla anguilla) development in NW Portuguese estuaries with different contamination levels

et al. 2009

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The aims of the present study were to compare the health status of yellow eels (Anguilla anguilla) developing in three estuaries of the NW Portuguese coast with different levels of pollution and their physiological responses to combined effects of environmental variation and pollution. For this, a field study was performed using a multi-parameter approach, including eels condition indexes and biomarkers, water quality variables and other environmental factors. Sixteen biological parameters were assessed, namely: hepatosomatic index (LSI), Fulton's condition index (K), lipid peroxidation (LPO), total glutathione (TG), reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidised glutathione (GSSG), GSH/GSSG, and the activity of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sodium-potassium ATPase (Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase), ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione S-transferases (GST), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR). Ten environmental factors were also measured in water: temperature, salinity, pH, phosphates, nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, silica, phenol and hardness. Globally, the biomarkers indicate exposure and toxic effects of pollutants on eels living in contaminated estuaries. The relationships between biological and environmental variables were assessed through redundancy analysis. K and LSI indexes, AChE and Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, total glutathione levels and the antioxidant enzymes CAT, GR, and SOD where the factors most discriminating reference (Minho River estuary) from contaminated estuaries (Lima and Douro Rivers estuaries). Moreover, the most striking outcomes of pollutants exposure on biological responses were observed during winter, probably due to a joint effect of cold weather and pollution stress. Altogether, the results indicate that the development of eels in the polluted estuaries of Lima and Douro rivers is interfering with physiological functions determinant for their survival and performance. This may increase the mortality rates during the continental life-phase of the species and decrease the percentage of animals able to successfully complete their oceanic migration and, thus, reduce the contribution of each generation to the next one.

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An In Situ Bioassay Integrating Individual and Biochemical Responses Using Small Fish Species

Cited by 78 publications

References 70 publications

An estuarine mudsnail in situ toxicity assay based on postexposure feeding

An estuarine mudsnail in situ toxicity assay based on postexposure feeding

A postexposure feeding assay using the marine polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata suitable for laboratory and in situ exposures

Yellow eel (Anguilla anguilla) development in NW Portuguese estuaries with different contamination levels

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