Assessing the Toxicity of Chemical Compounds Associated With Land-Based Marine Fish Farms: The Sea Urchin Embryo Bioassay With Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula

Abstract

In aquaculture, disinfection of facilities, prevention of fish diseases, and stimulation of fish growth are priority goals and the most important sources of toxic substances to the environment, together with excretory products from fish. In the present study, embryos of two species of sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula) were exposed to serial dilutions of six antibiotics (amoxicillin (AMOX), ampicillin, flumequine (FLU), oxytetracycline (OTC), streptomycin (ST), and sulfadiazine [SFD]) and two disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) and formaldehyde [CH(2)O]). Alterations in larval development were studied, and the effective concentrations (ECs) were calculated to evaluate the toxicity of the substances. Both species showed similar sensitivities to all substances tested. Disinfectants (EC(50) = 1.78 and 1.79 mg/l for CH(2)O; EC(50) = 10.15 and 11.1 mg/l for NaClO) were found to be more toxic than antibiotics. AMOX, OTC, and ST caused <20 % of alterations, even at the highest concentrations tested. FLU was the most toxic to P. lividus (EC(50) = 31.0 mg/l) and SFD to A. lixula (EC(50) = 12.7 mg/l). The sea urchin bioassay should be considered within toxicity assessment-monitoring plans because of the sensitivity of larvae to disinfectants.

Effects of exposure to gadolinium on the development of geographically and phylogenetically distant sea urchins species

“…The two European species collected from the same environment, P. lividus and A. lixula, showed similar sensitivities in response to Gd exposure, in agreement with a previous work where these two species were found equally sensitive to different types of chemicals (Carballeira et al, 2012). In contrast, a recent article on the effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on the development of three sea urchin species demonstrated the species-specific effects of Ag-NPs low concentrations (from 100 down to 1 mg/L) (Buri c et al, 2015).…”

Assessment of the individual and mixture toxicity of cadmium, copper and oxytetracycline, on the embryo-larval development of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

“…The results of the present study showed that the exposure of sperm to a concentration higher than 100 mg/L of OTC for 1 h critically affected sea urchin larva development. This result was in contradiction with those of Carballeira et al (2012b), who noted that the exposure of fertilized eggs of sea urchins P. lividus and Arabica lixula to a concentration of OTC superior to 100 mg/L improves the larval development. It is well known that antibiotics including OTC inhibit protein synthesis in bacterium (Kümmerer 2009), and this may produce toxicity in embryo developmental events of sea urchin.…”

Impact of sewage pollution on two species of sea urchins in the Mediterranean Sea (Cortiou, France): Radial asymmetry as a bioindicator of stress

“…Studies have already shown that these two species can have different degrees of pollutant bioaccumulation while they develop in polluted sediment, with A. lixula showing slightly higher sensitivity to heavy metals than P. lividus (e.g. Carballeira et al, 2011Carballeira et al, , 2012Portocali et al, 1997). Differences in habitat and feeding regimes might explain the discrepancies in sensitivity to pollutants between these two species (e.g.…”