Food quality effects on copepod growth and development: Implications for bioassays in ecotoxicological testing

We evaluated effects of six algal species in 25 combinations on growth and reproduction of the harpacticoid copepod Nitocra spinipes. In the first lifecycle test, Rhodomonas salina, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Dunaliella tertiolecta were used. The results showed that R. salina was the best food,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecotoxicology and environmental safety 2009-02, Vol.72 (2), p.351-357
Main Authors: Dahl, Ulrika, Lind, Charlotta Rubio, Gorokhova, Elena, Eklund, Britta, Breitholtz, Magnus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biologi
Biological Assay - methods
Biology
Copepoda
Copepoda - drug effects
Copepoda - embryology
Copepoda - growth & development
Development
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Dunaliella tertiolecta
Ecotoxicology - methods
Embryonic Development - drug effects
Eukaryota
Food
Growth rate
NATURAL SCIENCES
NATURVETENSKAP
Nitocra spinipes
Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Reproduction
Reproduction - drug effects
Reproduction - physiology
Rhodomonas salina
RNA content
Survival
Survival Rate
Terrestisk, limnisk och marin ekologi
Terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology
Tetraselmis suecica
Thalassiosira
Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
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Summary:We evaluated effects of six algal species in 25 combinations on growth and reproduction of the harpacticoid copepod Nitocra spinipes. In the first lifecycle test, Rhodomonas salina, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Dunaliella tertiolecta were used. The results showed that R. salina was the best food, whereas P. tricornutum (0% development success) and D. tertiolecta (41.7% malformations) were poor food items. In the second lifecycle test, a mixture of R. salina, Tetraselmis suecica, and Thalassiosira weisflogii (selected from screening tests) was tested together with a mono-diet of R. salina. Also in this test, copepods fed R. salina performed better (i.e. had higher survival and reproductive success) compared with the other treatment. We conclude that R. salina is appropriate to use as food in toxicity testing with N. spinipes, whereas some of the algae commonly used as feed in ecotoxicological tests with other copepods had detrimental effects on the development, reproduction, and survival of N. spinipes.
ISSN:0147-6513
1090-2414
1090-2414
DOI:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2008.04.008