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Abstract

Two common freshwater rotifer species Brachionus calyciflorus and Asplanchna brightwelli were employed as test organisms to investigate the toxic effects of the widely used organophosphate pesticide, dimethoate. The swimming angular speed and linear speed alteration of two rotifers were evaluated under the toxic stress in four concentrations (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 mg L−1). For B. calyciflorus, the rotifer swimming angular speed and linear speed were both adversely affected as a function of the toxicant concentrations. After a 2 h exposure, the angular speeds at four concentrations were 39.37, 30.74, 26.68 and 23.96° s−1, 65.30%, 50.98%, 44.25% and 39.74% of that of the control, respectively, while the mean linear speed decreased from 194.80 to 91.85 × 10−3 mm s−1, which was 70.12%, 48.14%, 34.02% and 33.06% of that of the control (277.82 × 10−3 mm s−1), respectively. The pesticide also significantly inhibited the swimming angular speed of A. brightwelli. After a 2 h exposure, the angular speeds of this rotifer at four concentrations were 39.37, 30.74, 26.68 and 23.96° s−1, only 22.99%, 17.16%, 16.21% and 13.63% of that of the control (170.80° s−1), respectively. Compared with the results of B. calyciflorus, A. brightwelli was more sensitive on the swimming angular speed when exposed to the toxicant. It implied that A. brightwelli should be an alternative candidate model species about the toxicities of aquatic pollutants. In addition, when the rotifer A. brightwelli was exposed to four pesticide concentrations, the swimming linear speed displayed symptoms of hormesis, characterized by the conversion of low-concentration stimulate to high-concentration inhibition. Our results show that dimethoate had a significant effect on swimming of freshwater rotifers.