Acute Lethal Toxicity and Accumulation of Copper in Gammarus pulex (L.) (Amphipoda)

Authors: KEMAL GÜVEN, CENGİZHAN ÖZBAY, ERHAN ÜNLÜ, ALİ SATAR

Abstract: Gammarus pulex (L.) collected from clean sites around Kabakli pond (Diyarbakır) was acclimatized at 15°C for 10 days. The individuals were placed in 1lt. vessels and exposed to Cu ++ concentrations of 0.05, 0.08, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.30 and 0.50 ppm to determine both 24, 48, 72 and 96 h LC50 values and Cu ++ accumulation over 96h. LC 50 values at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h were calculated to be 0.2, 0.17, 0.12 and 0.1 ppm, respectively. Acute copper accumulation in gammarids exposed to various copper concentrations over 96 h was determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. An equation of logY=1.523+0.078logx, r=0.976 was obtained from the relationship between the copper concentration of the surrounding water (X) and the body copper accumulation (Y) in G. pulex. This relatonship was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). There was an increase in copper accumulation rate in proportion to water copper concentrations.

Keywords: Copper toxicity testing, accumulation, bioindicator, Gammarus pulex.

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