Comparative sensitivity of sea urchin sperm bioassays to metals and pesticides

Abstract

A simple sperm/fertilization bioassay, primarily using sea urchin gametes, has been developed and used by a variety of laboratories. This assay was recently refined into a standard test and is now being used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others for toxicity testing in marine waters. One factor that has lagged behind the development of this assay is the comparison of its sensitivity to various common toxicants as compared to other bioassay systems and life stages of other marine organisms. The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of a standardized sea urchin sperm/fertilization assay to the responses of embryo, larval, and adult marine organisms to metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) and pesticides (DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Endosulfan) added to natural seawater. The results, although highly variable, generally showed that sperm/fertilization and embryo assays were quite sensitive to the metals tested, but that the larval and adult assays were more sensitive to the pesticides. These comparative data, together with other studies of complex effluents, show that the standardized sperm/fertilization bioassay is an especially quick and useful tool for biomonitoring of marine waters.

The effects of metals on embryo-larval and adult life stages of the sea urchin, Diadema antillarum

“…The EC50 of 11 g/L Cu measured in this study is at the low end of the range (11-120 g/L Cu) of reported EC50s for other species of sea urchin larvae (Kobayashi, 1977(Kobayashi, , 1980(Kobayashi, , 1981(Kobayashi, , 1994Rumbold and Snedaker, 1997;Phillips et al, 2003). D. antillarum larvae were also very sensitive to Ag with an EC50 below the range (14-100 g/L) of EC50s reported for other urchins (Dinnel et al, 1982(Dinnel et al, , 1983(Dinnel et al, , 1989Warnau et al, 1996). Current U.S. EPA Ambient Water Quality Criteria (AWQC) for Cu and proposed AWQC for Ag in marine systems are 3.1 and 2.9 g/L, respectively (U.S. EPA, 1980EPA, , 2003.…”

Fertilisation is not a new beginning: sperm environment affects offspring developmental success

“…For example, our results suggest that stresses could have more insidious and pervasive impacts than previously acknowledged. The gamete phase has long been recognised as the most sensitive to stress (Dinnel et al, 1989;Marshall, 2006). Our study suggests that exposure to a stress during fertilisation not only will affect the number of zygotes that are produced but also may alter the performance of those zygotes that are produced -a doubly negative effect of stress that could reverberate across the life history.…”

Marine epibiosis. III. Possible antifouling defense adaptations in Polysyncraton lacazei (Giard) (Didemnidae, Ascidiacea)

“…Antim:,totic/antilarval: We have chosen sea urchin eggs as objects for this part of the screening because: (1) This has become a standard technique in tl~e field (e.g., Dinnel et al, 1989); (ii) they are easy to obtain; and (iii) this test yields very diverse information about general bioactivities, such as sperm motility inhibition, fertilization inhibition, antimitotic activity, "mutagenic" activity (abnormal development) and ciliary motility inhibition. At least the last three of ti~ese probably affect many marine larvae at the moment of settlement.…”