Interactive effects of hypoxia and PBDE on larval settlement of a marine benthic polychaete

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2014-08, Vol.85 (2), p.425-432
• Main Authors: Shin, Paul K.S., Gopalakrishnan, Singaram, Chan, Alice K.Y., Qian, P.Y., Wu, Rudolf S.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaerobiosis; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Annelida and closely related phyla: sipuncula. Echiura. Nemertinea; Applied ecology; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Capitella; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers - toxicity; Hypoxia; Interactive effect; Invertebrates; Larva - drug effects; Larva - physiology; Larva - ultrastructure; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Oxygen - metabolism; PBDE; Polychaeta - drug effects; Polychaeta - physiology; Polychaeta - ultrastructure; Polychaete; Population Density; Sea water ecosystems; Settlement; Synecology; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.04.037

•Hypoxia significantly affected Capitella larvae than BDE-47 levels in sediments.•Under hypoxia, settlement success of Capitella larvae was reduced.•Significant interactive effect of hypoxia and BDE-47 on Capitella larval settlement.•No alterations in morphology of settled larvae were noted in all treatments.•However, the presence of BDE-47 could enhance Capitella growth in body length. Marine benthic polychaete Capitella sp. I is widely known to adapt to polluted habitats; however, its response to xenobiotics under hypoxic conditions has been rarely studied. This research aimed to test the hypothesis that interactive effects of hypoxia and congener BDE-47 of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), which is ubiquitous in marine sediments, may alter the settlement of Capitella sp. I. Our results revealed that under hypoxic condition, settlement success and growth in body length of Capitella larvae were significantly reduced compared to those under normoxia of similar BDE-47 concentration. While no significant changes in morphology of settled larvae were noted in both exposure conditions, the presence of BDE-47 could enhance polychaete growth. The present findings demonstrated that the interactive effects of hypoxia and environmentally realistic concentrations of BDE-47 in sediments could affect polychaete settlement, which, in turn, reduce its recruitment and subsequent population size in the marine benthic ecosystem.