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Determining the Effects of Oiled Sediment on Fish Life Cycle Endpoints using the Sheepshead Minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus)
Citation:
Hemmer, Becky, CrystalR Jackson, J. Krzykwa, A. Almario, J. Awkerman, M. Barron, AND Sandy Raimondo. Determining the Effects of Oiled Sediment on Fish Life Cycle Endpoints using the Sheepshead Minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus). SETAC North America 35th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, CANADA, November 09 - 13, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
To present a poster of our 19-week sheepshead minnow fish life cycle oiled sediment test for the 2014 SETAC convention.
Description:
Determination of long-term effects of exposure to crude oil is critical for ascertaining population-level risk following spill events. A 19-week life-cycle experiment was conducted with the estuarine sheepshead minnow exposed to natural sediment spiked with weathered Louisiana Sweet Crude (LSC) oil. The sediment was spiked at nominal concentrations of 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, and 40.0 g oil/kg wet sediment for comparison with un-oiled sediment control and seawater (no sediment) control. Newly hatched larvae (F0) reared through the reproductively active adult phase were exposed to the oiled sediments and controls throughout their development. F1 embryos were collected, incubated and hatched in clean water to determine if parental full life-cycle exposure to oil pollutants could potentially produce trans-generational effects. Growth, survival, and reproduction of F0, and embryo survival of F1 were assessed during the study. For the F0 generation, no differences in growth parameters were observed at 29 days post hatch (dph). However, at 92 and 132 dph, the LOEC for standard length was 5.0 and 10.0 g/kg, respectively, whereas the LOEC for wet weight for both time periods was 5.0 g/kg. Significant reduction in F0 fecundity occurred at concentrations of 20 and 40 g/kg while the survival rate was reduced only at the highest concentration tested. Information from this study will assist in developing population models for evaluating risk to benthic spawning fish species exposed to oiled sediments.