Behavioural responses of the supralittoral amphipod Talitrus saltator (Montagu) to trace metals contamination

Abstract

We investigated behavioural responses (locomotor activity and substrate selection) of the amphipod Talitrus saltator after laboratory exposure to different concentrations of Hg, Cu and Cd. Locomotor activity, measured with a microwave radar device, was assessed in animals exposed to contaminated sand and in sandhoppers previously kept for 48 h in contaminated seawater and tested in clean sand. The contents of Hg, Cu and Cd in T. saltator tissues were measured at the end of pre-exposure to contaminated seawater and after 7 days of exposure to contaminated sand. Substrate selection tests were carried out in a binary choice arena. Tests in contaminated sand showed that sandhopper locomotor activity varied in a dose-dependent manner in the presence of Cu and Hg (at lower Hg concentration they were more active during daytime) but did not show significant changes in Cd-exposed animals except for disappearance of the typical circadian activity pattern. Pre-exposure to trace metals in seawater induced a significant decrease of movements for all metals, although the effects varied according to the toxicity of the metal. Trace metals analyses showed that tissue concentrations of Hg, Cu and Cd were related to their concentrations in the test medium. Substrate selection tests showed avoidance of contaminated sand only when sandhoppers were tested in the presence of both concentrations of Hg and at the higher concentration of Cu. In conclusion, locomotor activity and avoidance behaviour of T. saltator could be used as behavioural biomarkers of trace metals exposure.

High genetic diversity and variability of bacterial communities associated with the sandhopper Talitrus saltator (Montagu) (Crustacea, Amphipoda)

“…Talitrid amphipods constitute the main animal biomass in sandy beaches and play an important role in the supralittoral environment (Griffiths et al, 1983;Wildish, 1988;McLachlan and Brown, 2006). The sandhopper Talitrus saltator is a well-established model species for biomonitoring human pressure and pollution on sandy beaches (Barca-Bravo et al, 2008;Ugolini et al, 2004Ugolini et al, , 2005Ugolini et al, , 2012Ungherese et al, 2010aUngherese et al, ,b, 2012 and for ecology and behavior (Pardi and Papi, 1953;Wildish, 1988;Ugolini et al, 1999;Ugolini, 2003Ugolini, , 2006. Despite their key ecological relevance for carbon cycling on the damp band of sandy beaches, to date there are very limited reports on T. saltator-associated gut microbial flora (Nuti et al, 1971;Martineti et al, 1995).…”

Monitoring and Analyzing of Circadian and Ultradian Locomotor Activity Based on Raspberry-Pi

“…We analyzed the activity of the Gammarus Setosus that is a marine invertebrate (order of the amphipods). This animal commonly lives in intertidal zones and is a useful biomarker for pollution [33,34]. In this study, we applied a typical chronobiological design [35,36].…”

Body size-related constraints on the movement behaviour of the arctic notostracan Lepidurus arcticus (Pallas, 1973) under laboratory conditions

“…climate warming. To date, there is a growing consensus on the power of animal behaviour analysis to provide effective tools and indicators of the effects determined by humaninduced environmental changes (Ugolini et al 2012;Sih 2013;Wong and Candolin 2015). In the present study trials were performed at ambient temperature and the potential effects of temperature changes were not addressed; future experimental research activities focused on the analysis of movement behaviour in relation to size-related metabolic and physiological variations determined by changes in water temperature may provide significant information on how climate change alters the fitness of arctic populations of aquatic invertebrates and, ultimately, their functional role within ecosystems (Bradshaw and Holzapfel 2010).…”