Abstract
Marine harpacticoid copepods Tigriopus brevicornis (Crustacea) were collected along the French Atlantic coast (Loire Atlantique). Animals were exposed to different essential (Cu, Zn, Ni) and non-essential (Cd, Hg, Ag) metals of both lethal and sublethal concentrations for different time periods. Ultrastructural investigations of control and experimentally exposed copepods were performed in the whole copepod to assess metal-induced cytotoxicity by using transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). Cytological changes were observed in the midgut, integument, and ovary cells to varying degrees depending on metal dose/length exposure. All studied metals, even at environmental concentrations, attacked similar cellular targets (mitochondria, rER, nucleus), suggesting that the cell has a limited repertoire of responses to cell injury. The high sensitivity of copepods, at the cellular level, makes them interesting models to develop early warning techniques for water quality assessment.
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