Development of whole sediment bioassay using the marine/estuarine polychaetes Polydora cornuta Bosc 1802 and Boccardia proboscidea Hartman 1940
- Arenicola Marine, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Canada)
- Environment Canada, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Canada). Environmental Quality Lab.
- Environment Canada, North Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Pacific Environmental Science Centre
The growing need by Environment Canada for a battery of marine toxicity tests has prompted the development of chronic, sublethal, sediment bioassay tests using marine or estuarine annelids (polychaetes). Initially several species of polychaetes found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic waters were assessed and a few of these were selected for testing survival and sensitivity under laboratory conditions and sensitivity to reference toxicants using field collected specimens. From these experiments, the authors identified several promising species and attempts were made to culture them. To date they have been successful in culturing one species from the Atlantic coast--Polydora cornuta and one species from the Pacific Coast--Boccardia proboscidea. They have been able to generate sufficient numbers of same-age larvae, raise them under controlled conditions to juveniles/young adults, and, subject them to a variety of Non-Contaminant Effects Trials (NCETs) and Contaminant Effects Trials (CETs). In the NCETs the authors determined the effect of food type and food ration, temperature, salinity, grain size, length of test condition. They found them to be moderately robust in terms of variable environmental parameters. In the CETs they found this species to be sensitive to sediments considered by Environment Canada to be toxic. They also determined the animal`s sensitivity to a reference toxicant CdCl{sub 2} (96 hr LC50).
- OSTI ID:
- 372536
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9641%%613
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Harmonization of standard toxicity test methods used in North America
Multiple life stage sensitivity of a deposit-feeding polychaete to chemical toxicants in sediment