A comparison between oyster ( Crassostrea gigas) and sea urchin ( Paracentrotus lividus) larval bioassays for toxicological studies

Abstract

The respective sensitivity of oyster ( Crassostrea gigas) and sea urchin ( Paracentrotus lividus) embryos and larvae to salinity, and to various micropollutants (four heavy metals, three pesticides) and to two polluted sediments were compared with a simplified bioassay method. C. gigas embryos and larvae were more sensitive to copper; the sensitivity of both species to tributyltin (TBT) was practically the same; P. lividus was more sensitive to lead and mercury. The only pesticide found to be toxic was a herbicide, Dinoterbe, to which oyster larvae were more sensitive than sea urchin plutei. Of the two sediments tested, the first one had effects on P. lividus embryogenesis only; C. gigas embryos and larvae were more affected by the second sediment which was originated from a harbour and was polluted by heavy-metals. The choice of species for biomonitoring may be based on biological considerations, such as the availability of mature adults for obtaining gametes, or on the salinity of the studied area; the oyster bioassay seems to be more suitable for coastal and estuarine brackish waters, because of the broader salinity tolerance of estuarine bivalve larvae as compared to sea urchin larvae.