Preliminary Monitoring of Praziquantel in Water and Sediments at a Japanese Amberjack (Seriola quinqueradiata) Aquaculture Site

Abstract

Praziquantel (PZQ), an active compound against Platyhelminthes, is an essential anthelmintic for the aquaculture industry. However, there are few reports of the environmental risks of PZQ use in aquaculture. In this study, we monitored PZQ in water and sediment at an aquaculture site of Japanese amberjack, also called yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata). Although PZQ was detected in water during treatment and 3 days post-treatment, PZQ levels were below the detectable limit in water 60 m from the net pen during the treatment, and in all sediment samples. In this preliminary study, we could not detect residue of PZQ from sediments in the aquaculture site, and no evidence about environmental effect of PZQ administration was obtained.

Praziquantel use in aquaculture – Current status and emerging issues

“…Several other juvenile digeneans have been effectively treated with PZQ (see Table 2 ), including P. minimum in bluegills ( Bader et al, 2017a ), and Galactosomum sp. in juvenile Japanese amberjacks ( Ido et al, 2019 ).…”

“…This persistence of PZQ in sediment would result in extended exposure to bottom-dwelling organisms. However, PZQ was below the detection limit (<0.01 mg/kg dry weight) in sediment taken from directly below sea-cages during and after PZQ treatments at an aquaculture site ( Ido et al, 2019 ). Here, PZQ levels were monitored in a field setting during oral treatment of S. quinqueradiata at 50 mg/kg BW/day.…”

“…Here, PZQ levels were monitored in a field setting during oral treatment of S. quinqueradiata at 50 mg/kg BW/day. PZQ was detected in surface water at low levels during treatment in the net pen (3 μg/L) and up to 30 m away (0.13 μg/L), but by 3 days post-treatment PZQ levels in the net pen had reduced significantly (0.08 μg/L) and were below detection levels (<0.1 μg/L) in surrounding water ( Ido et al, 2019 ). Combined with no PZQ detected in sediments, the results suggested rapid dispersion and a lack of accumulation of PZQ in this setting.…”