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A short‐exposure, sublethal, sediment toxicity test using the marine bivalve Mulinia lateralis : Statistical design and comparative sensitivity
Author(s) -
Burgess Robert M.,
Morrison George E.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620130405
Subject(s) - toxicity , biology , organism , sediment , ecology , amphipoda , toxicology , fishery , crustacean , chemistry , paleontology , organic chemistry
Over the last 10 years a great deal of research effort has concentrated on determining the effects of contaminated sediments on aquatic organisms. For marine systems, this effort has emphasized acute sediment toxicity tests using amphipods, although a variety of other end points and species have been used. Another candidate species for marine, solid‐phase, sublethal sediment toxicity testing is the bivalve Mulinia lateralis . Useful attributes of this euryhaline bivalve include a wide geographic distribution (along the North American Atlantic coast from Prince Edward Island to the Gulf of Mexico), easy lab culture, and amenability to toxicity testing applications (end points are mortality and growth [milligrams per organism dry weight]). Detailed in this paper are organism selection and culture, establishment of statistical design, and an estimate of organism mortality and sublethal response variability. Results of Mulinia lateralis toxicity tests with 65 contaminated sediments from eight sites are reported, as well as results of comparative toxicity tests using two amphipod species, Ampelisca abdita and Eohaustorius estu‐arius. Analysis of statistical power indicates treatment weight and survival responses that are 25% different from the site control responses can be detected with a probability of 95%. Results of comparative toxicity tests illustrate that although Mulinia lateralis and amphipod acute end points are relatively similar in sensitivity, utilization of the Mulinia lateralis sublethal growth end point greatly increases test sensitivity. This paper describes a new marine sediment toxicity test that complements the existing suite of marine sediment toxicity assessment techniques.