Acute toxicity of mercury and selenium toCrassostrea gigasembryos andCancer magisterlarvae
✍ Scribed by N. Glickstein
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1978
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 451 KB
- Volume
- 49
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0025-3162
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✦ Synopsis
The possible modification of mercury toxicity by selenium in embryos of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and the larvae of the crab Cancer magister was investigated. Mercury concentration eliciting abnormal development in 50% of the oyster embryos (EC50) was 5.7 ~g 1-I (48 h) and mortality in 50% of the crab larvae (LC50) occurred with 6.6 ~g 1 -I (96 h). The 48 h EC50 for selenium was greater than 10,000 ~g 1-I for oyster embryos and the 96 h LC50 for crab zoeae was 1040 ~g 1-I. The response from each species, when exposed to both toxicants, revealed that a high level of selenium (~5,000 ~g 1-I) increased mercury toxicity. Moderate selenium concentrations (10 to 1,000 ~g 1-I) tended to decrease mercury toxicity, although no statistical verification could be made. The order of administration of toxicants had no effect on the response of crassostrea gigas embryos. Early developmental stages (~8 h) of c. gigas embryos were most sensitive to dissolved Hg; toxicant administration 24 h after fertilization resulted in no apparent abnormalities in development.