Abstract
Exposure of juvenile bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) to 48 and 173 μg/L pentachlorophenol (20 and 72% of 96-h LC50, respectively) for 22 days produced a significant reduction in food conversion efficiency measured over the last 10 days of exposure. A 22-day recovery period in untreated water caused food conversion efficiency values to increase so that there was no longer a significant difference between previously exposed and control fish. For bluegill sunfish, exposure to sublethal levels of pentachlorophenol can decrease food-conversion efficiency, but recovery from this state of reduced growth is rapid when fish are placed in a toxicant-free environment. Although other studies have found that a number of biochemical indicators of pentachlorophenol exposure cause long-lasting changes, this study used a new method of measuring food conversion over a very short period to show that food-conversion efficiency, which integrates many biochemical and physiological effects, recovers quickly.
Published Version
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