
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Marsden, Islay D. 
A1  - Wong, Carol H. T. 
T1  - Effects of sediment copper on a tube-dwelling estuarine amphipod, <emph type="2">Paracorophium excavatum</emph>
JF  - Marine and Freshwater Research
JO  - Mar. Freshwater Res.
Y1  - 2001
VL  - 52
IS  - 7
SP  - 1007
EP  - 1014
KW  - ecotoxicology, sediment bioassay, copper 10-day LC 50.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/MF00139 
N2  - 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. 
ER  -

