Effects on survival and reproduction of Porcellio dilatatus exposed to different Cd species

Abstract

The woodlouse Porcellio dilatatus (Crustacea) is a suitable model organism as a biological indicator for the toxic effects evaluation induced by pollutants exposure in the environment. In this study, the influence of cadmium (Cd) species on survival and reproduction of isopods was investigated. Survival, growth and reproductive parameters (time to pregnancy, pregnancy duration, pregnancy and abortion occurrence, number of juveniles per female and juvenile weight) were recorded after isopods were exposed to two species of Cd deployed in food: Cd(Cys)(2) and Cd(NO(3))(2). There was a difference between survival rates of exposed males and females to both Cd species but in the case of Cd(NO(3))(2) these differences were more accentuated, with females having higher survival rates. In the presence of both metal species a reduction in the number of pregnancies and pregnancy duration was observed, while in the case of Cd(Cys)(2) all pregnancies were inconclusive. The number of juveniles delivered per female fed with Cd(NO(3))(2) contaminated food was lower than in the control, whereas the juvenile weights were higher. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first toxicity test demonstrating that metal speciation affects reproduction in isopods. Cd(Cys)(2) showed to be the most toxic of the contaminants tested in this long term exposure and capable of jeopardizing the reproduction efforts of isopods.

Effects of Cadmium on Lipid Storage and Metabolism in the Freshwater Crab Sinopotamon henanense

“…A significant reduction of lipid levels in the tissues after Cd exposure could lead to a lower HI and OI, suggesting that hepatopancreatic and ovarian growth were seriously affected by Cd. The effect of Cd on the ovary could cause embryonic deformity and reduce hatching rates of fertilized eggs [55,56,57], affect the reproductive biology of crabs in general which is the focus of our future investigations, and may lead to the reduction of population size and other disturbances in aquatic ecosystems.…”

Long-term exposure of the isopod Porcellionides pruinosus to nickel: Costs in the energy budget and detoxification enzymes

“…As previously stated, the use of terrestrial isopods in ecotoxicology is not new and considerable work has been already described, including different procedures and test durations, established for evaluating different endpoints (Loureiro et al, 2002(Loureiro et al, , 2006Santos et al, 2010;Calhôa et al, 2012;Morgado et al, 2013;Tourinho et al, 2013). Despite the duration required to evaluate different live trait parameters, the use of long term exposures are not frequently applied (Ferreira et al, 2015), although they are advisable if a more detailed and comprehensive effects of a stressor is aimed.…”

Evaluation of trace element contamination usingArmadillo officinalisDuméril, 1816 (Crustacea, Isopoda) as a tool: An ultrastructural study

“…Such results were found in previous studies dealing with P. scaber , P. dilatatus , Oniscus asellus and P. laevis species (Calhôa et al, ; Godet et al, ; Jones & Hopkin, ; Odendaal & Reinecke, , ; Witzel, ). According to Godet et al () and Calhôa, Calhôa, Soares, and Loureiro (), the inhibition of growth may be caused by reduced energy reserves resulting from the cost of detoxifying high levels of metals. Body mass reduction was also observed in other groups exposed to cadmium such as amphipods (Jelassi et al, , ) and snails (Gomot, ; Swaileh & Ezzughayyar, ).…”