Abstract
The acute toxicity of zinc, cadmium and copper to Callianassa australiensis (Dana) was evaluated in static tests. Each test lasted up to 14 d and LC50 values were calculated for 4, 7, 10 and 14 d intervals. The toxicity of each metal increased with exposure time; thus the 4 d LC50 values of 10.20, 6.33 and 1.03 mg l-1 were considerably higher than the 14 d LC50 values of 1.15, 0.49 and 0.19 mg l-1 for zinc, cadmium and copper respectively. Toxicity curves reveal that none of the values were asymptotic, indicating that median lethal threshold concentrations were not reached for any of the metals. This suggests that 14 d is an insufficient time in which to complete meaningful, acute lethality tests for marine shrimps. Longer tests are necessary if lethal threshold concentrations are to be used with application factors to derive “safe” concentrations for the protection of C. australiensis.
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