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FISH COUGH RESPONSE - A METHOD FOR EVALUATING QUALITY OF TREATED COMPLEX EFFLUENTS
Citation:
Carlson, R. AND R. Drummond. FISH COUGH RESPONSE - A METHOD FOR EVALUATING QUALITY OF TREATED COMPLEX EFFLUENTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-78/015 (NTIS PB283050), 1977.
Description:
Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) showed increases in cough frequency commensurate with effluent concentration when exposed for 24 h to different industrial and municipal effluents. Effluents known to be toxic caused steadily increasing cough rates in the fish as effluent concentration approached acutely toxic levels. Bluegills exposed to three different samples of effluent, collected from the same source over an 8-month period, showed decreased levels of cough rate as the effluent improved in quality. Cough frequency is a rapid and sensitive physiological characteristic for evaluating the quality of industrial and municipal effluents and variation in quality of same-source effluents before discharge into receiving waters.