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Acute toxicity of ten chemicals to fairy shrimp relative to other crustaceans and mollusks
Citation:
Besser, J., C. Ivey, N. Wang, C. Ingersoll, D. Rogers, AND Sandy Raimondo. Acute toxicity of ten chemicals to fairy shrimp relative to other crustaceans and mollusks. Presented at SETAC North America 34th Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, November 17 - 21, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation at SETAC
Description:
Several species of fairy shrimp in the genus Branchinecta (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act due to destruction of seasonal wetland habitats in Oregon and California, making protection of the hydrology and water quality of the limited remaining habitat imperative. Because there is limited published toxicity data available for fairy shrimp (and almost no data for Branchinecta spp.), it is not clear whether current national ambient water quality criteria are adequately protective of the listed fairy shrimp. To address this problem, we are conducting a series of acute toxicity tests with 10 chemicals of potential concern in fairy shrimp habitats and with varying modes of toxic action: ammonia, pesticides, hexavalent chromium, cationic metals, and salts. Newly-hatched fairy shrimp for 24-hr toxicity tests were hatched from eggs purchased commercially (Thamnocephalus platyurus) or cultured in the laboratory from field-collected sediments (Branchinecta spp.). The same chemicals were tested concurrently with other crustaceans (branchiopods, Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia, and an amphipod, Hyalella azteca; 48-hr tests) and with freshwater mollusks (snails, Physa gyrina and Lymnaea stagnalis, and a mussel, Lampsilis siliquoidea; 96-hr tests). Based on overall results of tests with the first 5 chemicals (nickel, copper, zinc, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride), EC50s for fairy shrimp had a lower average rank (i.e. greater average sensitivity), than the other groups (other crustaceans and mollusks). Fairy shrimp (T. platyurus and B. lindahli) were the most sensitive group in tests with zinc. However, C. dubia was the most sensitive species in tests with zinc, nickel, and sodium chloride and the mussel, L. siliquoiodea, was the most sensitive species in tests with copper and potassium chloride. Additional tests are planned with the remaining 5 chemicals and with an additional species of fairy shrimp, the federally-threatened B. lynchi (vernal pool fairy shrimp). Results of these tests will be analyzed with USEPA’s Interspecies Correlation and Extrapolation (ICE) model to characterize the overall sensitivity of fairy shrimp to toxicants, relative to widely-tested surrogate species.