Abstract

SANTOS-MEDRANO, Gustavo Emilio  and  RICO-MARTINEZ, Roberto. Lethal effects of five metals on the freshwater rotifers Asplanchna brigthwellii and Brachionus calyciflorus. Hidrobiológica [online]. 2013, vol.23, n.1, pp.82-86. ISSN 0188-8897.

Acute toxicity tests of five metals (aluminum, cadmium, iron, lead, zinc) were performed to determine LC50 values in two species of freshwater rotifers: Asplanchna brigthwellii and its prey Brachionus calyciflorus. We conducted the tests using neonates less than 24 hr-old, each test consisted of five replicates, negative control and five metal concentrations (Al, Cd, Fe, Pb, Zn). We found that the prey rotifer B. calyciflorus was more sensitive to Al, Cd, Pb and Fe than the predator rotifer A. brightwellii. For both rotifers Cd was the most toxic of the five metals. It was established that the strain of B. calyciflorus studied is sensitive when compared with other B. calyciflorus strains and other species and genera of the family Brachionidae. In the other hand, LC50 values of A. brigthwellii are compared with rotifer and copepod predators.

Keywords : Acute toxicity; aquatic toxicology; LC50; metal toxicity; trophic interactions.

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