Acute toxicity testing with the European estuarine amphipod Corophium multisetosum

This study reports on the use of the estuarine amphipod Corophium multisetosum in acute toxicity testing. The species was successfully acclimated to the laboratory and was used in a water-only whole effluent 96 h acute bioassay and in a 10 days whole estuarine sediment test. C. multisetosum response was compared to other species in 96 h bioassays, testing boiling cork effluent and iron filings lixiviates. The amphipod showed high sensitivity and the results were similar to those obtained with others species namely, the freshwater cladoceran Daphnia magna, the estuarine amphipod Gammarus chevreuxi and the seawater annelid Sabellaria alveolata. In a 10 days static exposure to natural impacted estuarine sediments, the response of the species was compared to a fertilization bioassay with the sea-urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Both species indicated the same sediment samples as the most potentially toxic. These samples were collected in sites where the resident macrofauna benthic community is also the most affected, with strong reduction of the species richness, abundance and biomass. The results revealed that C. multisetosum presents high potential to be used in routine acute toxicity testing in the estuarine environment.