Higher Fluctuating Asymmetry as a Measure of Susceptibility to Pesticides in Fishes

Abstract

Two species of fishes common to the Great Plains of North America (the western mosquitofish [Gambusia affinis] and the sand shiner [Notropis ludibundus]) were used to examine the relationship between individual time-to-death (TTD) in 96-h toxicity tests and average fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Previous studies have indicated that FA, the random deviation from bilateral symmetry in metric traits, is increased in organisms that develop in stressful and/or marginal environments. This association has led to the prediction that FA may be useful as a bioindicator. For example, if an individual's FA is negatively related to stress resistance, a population that has comparatively high values of FA may be more susceptible to further stressors. Adult fish used in these experiments were captured from natural populations in Kansas and acclimated to laboratory conditions for 1 month before use in toxicity tests. Each species was separately exposed to two insecticides: parathion, an organophosphate, and lindane, an organochlorine. For each TTD test, 200 individuals were exposed over a 96-h period to an LC70 concentration. Dead individuals were removed every 3 h. Individuals that survived the test were sacrificed for comparison to those that died. Measurements for seven external morphologic characters were obtained for each individual and used to estimate average FA. Three of four statistical tests showed a significant negative regression between TTD and average FA, indicating that individuals with smaller FA survived longer in the test conditions. These results support the use of FA as an indicator of susceptibility to pesticides.

Asymmetric patterns in the cranial skeleton of zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposed to sodium pentachlorophenate at different embryonic developmental stages

“…For instance, Gambusia affinis populations that occur in the vicinity of paper mill effluent have been found to develop a greater degree of FA than similar populations in undisturbed rivers (Estes et al, 2006). Likewise, individuals from wild populations of the species G. affinis and Notropis ludibundus with a smaller degree of FA exposed to the LC 70 of parathion or lindane under laboratory conditions have been found to survive longer than those with greater FA (Allenbach et al, 1999). However, our results show that FA is present in both unexposed and NaPCPexposed zebrafish and is greater in unexposed specimens than in those exposed in stages Z-B, G-S and P-L.…”

“…The absolute value of the difference between the left and right sides (9LÀR9) of a symmetric character should have a mean tending to zero; small random variations around the mean value are termed fluctuating asymmetry (FA) (Palmer and Strobeck, 2003). FA has been used as a measure of developmental instability in environmentally stressed populations, and it has been determined that FA increases in direct proportion to environmental stress (Møller and Swaddle, 1997;Allenbach et al, 1999;Estes et al, 2006;Palmer et al, 2010). Nevertheless, other studies do not support FA as a measure of environmental stress caused by temperature (Longson et al, 2007) or chemically-induced stress (Floate and Coghlin, 2010); according to Fowler and Whitlock (1994), FA was not related to inbreeding in population.…”

Fluctuating Asymmetry and Growth as Biomarkers for Exposure to Androgen Disrupting Chemicals in Japanese Quail

“…Since these measurements require no specialized equipment, they are easy to perform and are cost effective. FA also appears to be generally applicable to a wide range of circumstances (Allenbach et al, 1999); it is a measurement that can be used on a wide variety of species and is affected by a variety of stressors.…”

“…In this case, FA in wing characters of male mosquitos (Culex quinquefasciatus) increased as levels of organophosphate treatments increased. This is the only study that we are aware of, however, to link causality to pesticide exposure and FA in spite of the use of over 100,000 chemicals as pesticides worldwide (Allenbach et al, 1999).…”

Fluctuating asymmetry and exogenous stress in fishes: a review

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