Toxicity of acid-sulfate soil leachate and aluminum to embryos of the Sydney Rock oyster.

The toxicity of leachate water from acid-sulfate soil to the early embryonic development of the Sydney Rock oyster, Saccostrea commercialis, was assessed. Concentrations of acid-sulfate soil leachate water as low as 3.3% in seawater were found to decrease the normal development of oyster embryos after 48 hr exposure, and this effect could not be attributed to any significant change in pH or salinity. An EC50 value for the acid-sulfate soil leachate water of 2.5 to 2.9% in seawater was obtained, and the no observed effect concentration was determined at a concentration of 2% in seawater. In tests conducted with aluminum added to seawater, a significant decrease in the percentage of embryos developed to the D-veliger stage occurred at concentrations of 150 micrograms/liter and greater, with no effects at 100 micrograms/liter. An EC50 of 225 micrograms/liter for the effect of added aluminum on embryo survival was obtained and all embryos showed developmental abnormalities at concentrations of 400 micrograms/liter and greater. A significant decrease in the embryonic development occurred when the fertilized eggs were incubated in pH-adjusted seawater at pH values < or = 6.75, but no significant effects were found at pH 7.0 or above. Since aluminum was present in high concentrations in the acid-sulfate soil leachate water, it was concluded that aluminum was the main toxicant in the acid-sulfate water that disrupted the oyster embryonic development.

[1]  D. Dent,et al.  A world perspective on acid sulphate soils , 1995 .

[2]  A. Calabrese,et al.  THE pH TOLERANCE OF EMBRYOS AND LARVAE OF MERCENARIA MERCENARIA AND CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA , 1966 .

[3]  R. Lester,et al.  Are outbreaks of Marteilia sydneyi in Sydney rock oysters, Saccostrea commercialis, triggered by a drop in environmental pH? , 1994 .

[4]  D. A. Nelson,et al.  The toxicity of heavy metals to embryos of the American oyster Crassostrea virginica , 1973 .

[5]  M. Anderson,et al.  Seasonal and temporal aspects of recruitment and succession in an intertidal estuarine fouling assemblage , 1994, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[6]  R. Bamber.  The effects of acidic seawater on three species of lamellibranch mollusc , 1990 .

[7]  B. O. Rosseland,et al.  The mixing zone between limed and acidic river waters: complex aluminium chemistry and extreme toxicity for salmonids. , 1992, Environmental pollution.

[8]  J. Hem,et al.  Aquatic aluminum: Chemistry, toxicology, and environmental prevalence∗ , 1977 .

[9]  B. Barlaup,et al.  Avoidance of toxic mixing zones by Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in the limed River Audna, southern Norway. , 1995, Environmental pollution.

[10]  G. Stephenson,et al.  The effect of acidification on the accumulation and toxicity of metals to freshwater invertebrates. , 1991, Environmental pollution.

[11]  幸正 桑谷,et al.  アコヤガイの成長におるぼす飼育水の pH の影響について , 1969 .

[12]  M. Melville,et al.  Estuarine Acidification: Impacts on Aquatic Biota of Draining Acid Sulphate Soils , 1995 .

[13]  A. B. Poléo.  Aluminium polymerization — a mechanism of acute toxicity of aqueous aluminium to fish , 1995 .

[14]  M. P. Coglianese.  The effects of salinity on copper and silver toxicity to embryos of the Pacific Oyster , 1982, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[15]  J. Thomson.  The Genera of Oysters and the Australian Species , 1954 .

[16]  M. A. Hamilton,et al.  Trimmed Spearman-Karber Method for Estimating Median Lethal Concentrations in Toxicity Bioassays , 1977 .

[17]  B. Salbu,et al.  Formation and dissolution kinetics of Al(OH) 3 (s) in synthetic freshwater solutions , 1991 .

[18]  J. Nell,et al.  Effects of salinity on the growth and survival of Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea commercialis) and Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae and spat , 1988 .

[19]  B. O. Rosseland,et al.  Increased mortality of fish due to changing Al-chemistry of mixing zones between limed streams and acidic tributaries , 1994 .

[20]  Michael Martin,et al.  Toxicities of ten metals to Crassostrea gigas and Mytilus edulis embryos and Cancer magister larvae , 1981 .

[21]  D. Gundersen,et al.  pH, Hardness, and Humic Acid Influence Aluminum Toxicity to Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Weakly Alkaline Waters , 1994 .

[22]  Loosanoff Vl,et al.  Effect of low pH upon rate of water pumping of oysters, Ostrea virginica. , 1947 .

[23]  R. Beiras,et al.  Effects of dissolved mercury on embryo-genesis, survival, growth and metamorphosis of Crassostrea gigas oyster larvae , 1994 .

[24]  H. Witters,et al.  Physicochemical changes of aluminium in mixing zones: Mortality and physiological disturbances in brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) , 1996 .

[25]  D. Reish,et al.  Effects of aluminium and nickel on survival and reproduction in polychaetous annelids , 1979, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[26]  J. Macdonald,et al.  Acute toxicities of eleven metals to early life-history stages of the yellow crab Cancer anthonyi , 1988 .

[27]  J. Knutzen.  Effects of decreased pH on marine organisms , 1981 .

[28]  Melville,et al.  Acidification of an estuarine tributary in eastern Australia due to drainage of acid sulfate soils , 1996 .