Acute toxicity of cadmium, copper, and mercury to larval American lobster Homarus americanus.

Abstract

In recent years researchers have begun to assess the American lobster's sensitivity to pollutants. Motivated by heightened awareness of coastal water contamination and a heavily pressured fishery with diminishing stocks, researchers have sought to find the most sensitive life history stage of the lobster for toxicity evaluation. Recent work strongly suggests that the meroplanktonic larval lobster is the most sensitive stage of Homaus americanus. The objective of this study was to determine the acute toxicity of mercury, copper and cadmium to Stage I larval lobsters.