
%0 Journal Article
%A Marsden, Islay D. 
%A Wong, Carol H. T. 
%T Effects of sediment copper on a tube-dwelling estuarine amphipod, <emph type="2">Paracorophium excavatum</emph>
%J Marine and Freshwater Research
%D 2001/11/14
%V 52
%N 7
%P 1007-1014
%K ecotoxicology, sediment bioassay, copper 10-day LC 50.
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/MF00139
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF00139 
%X Amphipods, Paracorophium excavatum, were exposed for 10 days to copper-spiked sediments in the concentration range 3&#8211;84 &#181;g g &#8211;1 dry wt of sediment. Percent emergence was low, ranging from 0.18% to 2.1%, but increased with exposure time and with copper concentration. Amphipod mortality increased with exposure time and sediment copper concentration, following a linear relationship; the Cu 10-day LC 50 value was 55 &#181;g g &#8211;1 . Mortality was &#60;5% in the control (natural) sediment containing 3&#181;g g&#8211;1 copper. &#62;85% of surviving amphipods reburied themselves within 1 h, and therefore this behaviour was not a good discriminator for potentially toxic sediments. The concentration of copper within the whole-body tissues of P. excavatum (&#181;g Cu g &#8211;1 ) was mostly independent of dry body weight within the range 0.12&#8211;0.37 mg. Average copper concentrations within the tissues ranged from 169 to 490 &#181;g Cu g &#8211;1 , with higher variability in amphipods exposed to sediment copper concentrations of 16 and 32 &#181;g g &#8211;1 . Amphipod tissue copper concentration increased with sediment copper concentration. It was concluded that P. excavatum is a suitable indicator species for use in ecotoxicological tests for potentially toxic marine and estuarine sediments. 
