Abstract

Despite the widespread distribution of heavy metals such as cadmium and zinc in the environment and their well-known cytotoxicity and embryotoxicity in mammals, comparatively little is known about their effect on aquatic organisms, particularly invertebrates. Post-gastrula and early larval development of the brine shrimp, Artemia, present some useful advantages for studies of developmental aspects of environmental toxicology. Dormant encysted gastrulae, erroneously called brine shrimp eggs, can be obtained commercially and raised in the laboratory under completely defined conditions. Following a period of post-gastrula development within the cyst, pre-nauplius larvae emerge through a crack in the cyst shell. A few hours later, free-swimming nauplius larvae hatch. Cadmium is acutely toxic to both adults and nauplius larvae of Artemia, but the reported LC50s are as high as 10 mM, depending on larval age. In this paper the authors show that pre-nauplius larvae prior to hatching are much more sensitive to cadmium than are hatched nauplius larvae. At 0.1 ..mu..m, cadmium retards development and hatching of larvae; higher concentrations block hatching almost completely and thus are lethal. However, the larvae arrested at the emergence stage survive for 24 hours or more before succumbing to the effects of cadmium, and during this period themore » potentially lethal effect is reversible if the larvae are placed in cadmium-free medium. The effects of zinc parallel those of cadmium, although zinc is somewhat less toxic than cadmium at equal concentrations.« less

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