title: In situ exposure to wastewater effluent reduces survival but has little effect on the behaviour or physiology of an invasive Great Lakes fish.
abstract: Treated effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are a significant source of anthropogenic contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, in the aquatic environment. Although our understanding of how wastewater effluent impacts fish reproduction is growing, we know very little about how effluent affects non-reproductive physiology and behaviours associated with fitness (such as aggression and activity). To better understand how fish cope with chronic exposure to wastewater effluent in the wild, we caged round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) for three weeks at different distances from a wastewater outflow. We evaluated the effects of this exposure on fish survival, behaviour, metabolism, and respiratory traits. Fish caged inside the WWTP and close to the outfall experienced higher mortality than fish from the reference site. Interestingly, those fish that survived the exposure performed similarly to fish caged at the reference site in tests of aggressive behaviour, startle-responses, and dispersal. Moreover, the fish near WWTP outflow displayed similar resting metabolism (O2consumption rates), hypoxia tolerance, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, and blood-oxygen binding affinities as the fish from the more distant reference site. We discuss our findings in relation to exposure site water quality, concentrations of pharmaceutical and personal care product pollutants, and our test species tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: mccalles@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Erin S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: McCallum
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Sherry N N
authors.initials: SNN
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaseghi-Shanjani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Jasmine A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Theresa R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Warriner
authors.affiliation: School of Environment, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada.
authors.forename: Tamanna
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sultana
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Graham R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Sigal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balshine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D060106:Lakes; D010473:Perciformes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000187:drug effects; D016019:Survival Analysis; D062065:Wastewater / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Activity; Caging; Cootes Paradise Marsh; PPCPs; Respirometry; Round goby