Copper sensitivity of wild ornamental fish of the Amazon.
The copper sensitivity of 10 wild ornamental fish from Rio Negro, an ion-poor river in the Amazon, was analyzed in the absence of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). No mortality was observed at concentrations up to 700mug Cul(-1) for two species exposed to CuCl(2).2H(2)O dissolved in standard EPA-USA water. Copper sensitivity of fish was also tested in INPA groundwater, which is similar to that of the Rio Negro, but lacking typical DOC of Rio Negro water. In these experiments, all four characid fish species were more sensitive to copper than the catfish and the cichlids. LC(50) values ranged from 12.8mug Cul(-1) for the characid Hemigrammus rhodostomus to 74.1mug Cul(-1) for the callichtyid Dianema urostriatum. Copper sensitivity of Hyphessobrycon socolofi was 52-fold lower in EPA (1405.5mug Cul(-1)) than in INPA water (26.8mugCul(-1)). The differences in values of LC(50) may be related to species-specific physiological abilities to ion-regulate under the original conditions of the habitat of the analyzed species.
Duarte
Rafael Mendonça
RM
Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Molecular Evolution, Brazilian National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA), Ave Andre Araujo 2936, 69060-001 Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Menezes
Ana Cristina Leite
AC
da Silveira Rodrigues
Leonardo
L
de Almeida-Val
Vera Maria Fonseca
VM
Val
Adalberto Luis
AL
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D010473:Perciformes; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D003300:Copper; C029892:cupric chloride