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Reproductive toxicity of the water accommodated fraction (WAF) of crude oil in the polychaetes Arenicola marina (L.) and Nereis virens (Sars)
- Source :
- Aquatic toxicology (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 90(1)
- Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Accidental pollution incidents are common in the marine environment and are often caused by oil-related activities. Here the potential of such an incident to disrupt reproduction in two polychaete species is investigated, using an environmentally relevant preparation of weathered Forties crude oil, i.e. the water accommodated fraction (WAF). Oocytes were collected and exposed to three concentrations of WAF for 1h prior to the addition of sperm, so that fertilization took place under exposure conditions. Fertilization success was significantly reduced in both species by an exposure to WAF concentrations equivalent to 0.38 mgL(-1) PAHs, to just 26.8% in Arenicola marina compared to 76% in Nereis virens. The effects of WAF exposure on fertilization were greatly enhanced at lower sperm concentrations in N. virens, with a complete lack of fertilization reactions observed at sperm concentrations of 10(3)sperm per mL. We therefore suggest a mechanism of toxicity related to sperm swimming behaviour, resulting in reduced sperm:egg collision rates. WAF was found to reduce post-fertilization development rates and have teratogenic effects on early embryonic stages in both species, which exhibited abnormal cleavage patterns and high levels of fluctuating asymmetry. These results illustrate how the presence of crude oil in its soluble form in seawater at the time of a spawning event for either A. marina or N. virens could impact on fertilization success with implications for the fertilization ecology of these free spawning marine invertebrates.
- Subjects :
- Male
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
media_common.quotation_subject
Zoology
Embryonic Development
Aquatic Science
Statistics, Nonparametric
Human fertilization
Botany
Ecotoxicology
Animals
Seawater
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Fertilisation
media_common
biology
Reproduction
Polychaeta
Marine invertebrates
biology.organism_classification
Sperm
Spermatozoa
Survival Analysis
Petroleum
Oocytes
Arenicola
Female
Reproductive toxicity
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18791514
- Volume :
- 90
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Aquatic toxicology (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a015efa847942503aabad6d845db141c