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Effects of Copper, Cadmium, Lead, and Arsenic in a Live Diet on Juvenile Fish Growth
Citation:
ERICKSON, R. J., D. R. MOUNT, T. L. HIGHLAND, R. HOCKETT, E. N. LEONARD, V. R. MATTSON, T. D. DAWSON, AND K. LOTT. Effects of Copper, Cadmium, Lead, and Arsenic in a Live Diet on Juvenile Fish Growth . CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Canada, 67:1816-1826, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
To indicate that reported growth effects on rainbow trout fed diets of invertebrates collected from mining-contaminated areas of the Clark Fork River or exposed in the laboratory to Clark Fork River sediments likely are primarily due to the arsenic, and not the metals, in those diets.
Description:
The effects of dietborne copper, cadmium, lead, and arsenic on juvenile fish were evaluated using a live diet consisting of the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus. In 30-d exposures, no effects on growth and survival of rainbow trout, fathead minnow, and channel catfish were observed when diets were contaminated with copper (130-310 g Cu/g dwt), cadmium (90-540 g Cd/g dwt), and lead (850-1000 g Pb/g dwt). However, rainbow trout growth was reduced in a dose-dependent manner for diets contaminated with arsenic (26-77 g As/g dwt). These arsenic effects were associated with slower feeding, reduced food conversion efficiency, cellular changes in the liver, and changes in fecal matter suggestive of digestive effects, and occurred to a similar extent whether the diet was exposed to arsenate or arsenite. The effects from these dietary levels of arsenic and the absence of effects from these dietary levels of metals was generally consistent with literature reports from studies using laboratory diets amended with toxicant salts. These results further indicated that reported growth effects on rainbow trout fed diets of invertebrates collected from mining-contaminated areas of the Clark Fork River or exposed in the laboratory to Clark Fork River sediments likely are primarily due to the arsenic, and not the metals, in those diets.