Research Article, J Mar Biol Oceanogr Vol: 5 Issue: 4
Use of Swimming Capacity to Evaluate the Effect of Mercury on Poecilia vivipara (PoecilÃdeos)According to Salinity and Temperature
Tegon Ferrarini AM1, Rezende KFO2* and Barbieri E3 | |
1Programa de Pós Graduação em Aquicultura e Pesca do Instituto de Pesca- APTA-SAA/SP, Brazil | |
2Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil | |
3Instituto de Pesca-APTA-SAA/SP, Caixa Postal 61, Cananéia, SP, CEP, 11990-000, Brazil | |
Corresponding author : Rezende KFO Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil Tel: +50 11 56313810 Fax: +50 11 56313810 E-mail: karinaforezende@yahoo.com.br |
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Received: October 18, 2016 Accepted: December 09, 2016 Published: December 15, 2016 | |
Citation: Ferrarini AMT, Rezende KFO, Barbieri E (2016) Use of Swimming Capacity to Evaluate the Effect of Mercury on Poecilia vivipara (Poecilídeos) According to Salinity and Temperature. J Mar Biol Oceanogr 5:4. doi: 10.4172/2324-8661.1000163 |
Abstract
Use of Swimming Capacity to Evaluate the Effect of Mercury on Poecilia vivipara (Poecilídeos)According to Salinity and Temperature
This study aimed to investigate the effects of the exposed to mercury, under the influence of different temperatures and salinities, on the swimming capacity of Poecilia vivípara. For this purpose, swimming capacity was estimated through exposure in aqueous medium, in twelve possible combinations, with different concentrations of mercury (0.0 μg/L, 10 μg/L, 20 μg/L and 30 μg/L), three salinities (35, 20 and 5) and three temperatures (25ºC, 20ºC and 15ºC). The results show that the swimming capacity decreased according to the mercury concentration in all temperatures and salinities studied. At the highest tested concentration of mercury at 25°C, there was a decrease on swimming capacity of 84.4%, 91.2% and 97.1% in the salinities 35, 20 and 5, respectively. Generally speaking, averages were significantly different compared to control at the highest concentration of the mercury and in all temperatures. At lower salinity employed there was a corresponding increase in mercury toxicity and a decrease in swimming capacity. Swimming activity is a valid parameter and consistent index of the sublethal toxic effect that can be easily incorporated into the assay protocols to work with standard toxicity tests.