title: The serpulid Ficopomatus enigmaticus () as candidate organisms for ecotoxicological assays in brackish and marine waters.
abstract: Ficopomatus enigmaticus is an ubiquitous fouling reef-forming species, easy to sample and recognize, diecious with gamete spawning along different seasons in different salinity conditions. Due to its characteristics it could become a good candidate for the monitoring of both marine and brackish waters. The suitability of F. enigmaticus as a promising model organism in ecotoxicological bioassays was evaluated by a sperm toxicity and a larval development assay. The fertilization rate in different salinity conditions (range 5-35‰) was first assessed in order to detect the salinity threshold within which profitably perform the assays. Afterward copper (Cu2+), cadmium (Cd2+), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 4-n-nonylphenol (NP) were used as reference toxicants in exposure experiments with spermatozoids (sperm toxicity assay) and zygotes (larval development assay). A dose-response effect was obtained for all tested toxicants along all salinity conditions except for 5‰ salinity condition where a too low (<30%) fertilization rate was observed. NP showed the highest degree of toxicity both in sperm toxicity and larval development assay. In some cases the results, expressed as EC50values at 35‰ salinity condition, were similar to those observed in the literature for marine organisms such as the sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) and the marine serpulid Hydroides elegans, while the exposure of F. enigmaticus spermatozoids' to Cd2+and NP resulted in toxicity effects several orders of magnitude higher than observed in P. lividus. Spermatozoids resulted to be slightly more sensitive then zygotes to all different toxicants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy; Interuniversitary Consortium of Marine Biology of Leghorn "G. Bacci", Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliva
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mennillo
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbaglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianfranca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Monni
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tardelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Casu
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy; Interuniversitary Consortium of Marine Biology of Leghorn "G. Bacci", Italy. Electronic address: carlo.pretti@unipi.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pretti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods*; D005306:Fertilization / Q000187:drug effects; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000187:drug effects*; D054712:Salinity; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioassays; Ecotoxicity; Ficopomatus enigmaticus; Larval development; Sperm toxicity