Premium
Effects of Toxaphene and Rotenone upon the Macroscopic Bottom Fauna of Two Northern Colorado Reservoirs
Author(s) -
Cushing Colbert E.,
Olive John R.
Publication year - 1957
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1956)86[294:eotaru]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - toxaphene , rotenone , fauna , population , biology , fishery , larva , ecology , toxicology , pesticide , environmental science , demography , sociology , mitochondrion , microbiology and biotechnology
Two northern Colorado reservoirs, Reservoir No. 4 and Smith Lake, were treated with fish toxicants to eliminate the rough fish. An investigation was conducted to ascertain the effects of toxaphene and derris (rotenone) upon the macroscopic bottom fauna. Reservoir No. 2 was used as a control. Bottom fauna were collected by four Ekman dredge hauls made on each of the reservoirs at approximately two‐week intervals between October 21, 1954, and September 30, 1955. The application of approximately 0.1 p.p.m. toxaphene had a marked effect upon the Tendipedidae (Chironomidae) population in Reservoir No. 4. Living larvae were absent from the samples within three days following the poisoning. Re‐population of the lake was not complete until July, nine months after poisoning. The Chaoborus larvae exhibited no immediate effects from the toxaphene, although the larvae were absent from a sample taken six months after poisoning and had not reappeared by termination of the study. The Oligochaetes exhibited no adverse effects from the toxaphene, but rather increased in numbers from the beginning until completion of the study. The application of approximately 1.0 p.p.m. derris (rotenone) did not affect the tendipedid population of Smith Lake to the extent that toxaphene affected it in Reservoir No. 4. The sample collected three days after the poisoning contained 40 larvae, the majority of which were dead. This was the only sample which indicated any extensive effects of the poison. The oligochaetes exhibited an initial increase after poisoning but the population soon became relatively stable. Toxaphene had a much greater immediate and residual effect upon the Tendipedidae than did the rotenone. The Oligochaeta were not adversely affected by either poison.