Acute toxicity of Euphorbia turcomanica on Aphanius dispar

Abstract

Piscicidal and molluscicidal activities of aqueous extracts of many members of the family Euphorbiaceae are well-known, but the toxicity potential of Euphorbia turcomanica was not yet studied on any aquatic animals. An acute toxicity test was performed by using a four-day static renewal test to determine the LC 50 value of dried powder of E. turcomanica for the euryhaline fish, Aphanius dispar . The LC 50 values at various exposure periods are 0.177±0.039 g/L for 24 hrs, 0.131±0.030 g/L for 48 hrs, 0.073±0.018 g/L for 72 hrs, and 0.052±0.013 g/L for 96 hrs. The toxicity of dried powder of E. turcomanica exhibits a positive correlation between fish mortality and exposure periods. As this is the first report about toxicity of E. turcomanica on A. dispar , the results could be only compared to that of other Euphorbiaceae as well as other fishes. It is concluded that the toxicity potential of E. turcomanica is comparable and close to that of well-documented Euphorbiaceae. It has been suggested that E. turcomanica products cannot be used directly in fish-inhabiting water reservoirs.