Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica Leo Pardi, Università di Firenze, Via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, FI, Italy.
Ecotoxicology. 2012 Jan;21(1):139-47. doi: 10.1007/s10646-011-0773-3. Epub 2011 Aug 28.
We investigated behavioural responses (locomotor activity and substrate selection) of the amphipod Talitrus saltator after laboratory exposure to different concentrations of Hg, Cu and Cd. Locomotor activity, measured with a microwave radar device, was assessed in animals exposed to contaminated sand and in sandhoppers previously kept for 48 h in contaminated seawater and tested in clean sand. The contents of Hg, Cu and Cd in T. saltator tissues were measured at the end of pre-exposure to contaminated seawater and after 7 days of exposure to contaminated sand. Substrate selection tests were carried out in a binary choice arena. Tests in contaminated sand showed that sandhopper locomotor activity varied in a dose-dependent manner in the presence of Cu and Hg (at lower Hg concentration they were more active during daytime) but did not show significant changes in Cd-exposed animals except for disappearance of the typical circadian activity pattern. Pre-exposure to trace metals in seawater induced a significant decrease of movements for all metals, although the effects varied according to the toxicity of the metal. Trace metals analyses showed that tissue concentrations of Hg, Cu and Cd were related to their concentrations in the test medium. Substrate selection tests showed avoidance of contaminated sand only when sandhoppers were tested in the presence of both concentrations of Hg and at the higher concentration of Cu. In conclusion, locomotor activity and avoidance behaviour of T. saltator could be used as behavioural biomarkers of trace metals exposure.
我们研究了在实验室暴露于不同浓度汞、铜和镉后，跳尾虾（Talitrus saltator）的行为反应（运动活性和基质选择）。利用微波雷达装置测量运动活性，评估暴露于污染沙中的动物以及先前在污染海水中饲养 48 小时并在清洁沙中测试的跳尾虾。在暴露于污染海水之前和暴露于污染沙 7 天后，测量 T. saltator 组织中的 Hg、Cu 和 Cd 含量。在二元选择竞技场中进行基质选择测试。在污染沙中的测试表明，跳尾虾的运动活性在 Cu 和 Hg 的存在下呈剂量依赖性变化（在较低 Hg 浓度下，它们在白天更活跃），但在 Cd 暴露的动物中未显示出显著变化，除了典型的昼夜活动模式消失。在海水中预先暴露于痕量金属会导致所有金属的运动显著减少，尽管效果根据金属的毒性而有所不同。痕量金属分析表明，组织中的 Hg、Cu 和 Cd 浓度与测试介质中的浓度有关。基质选择测试表明，只有当跳尾虾在两种浓度的 Hg 和较高浓度的 Cu 存在下进行测试时，才会避免污染的沙。总之，跳尾虾的运动活性和回避行为可以作为痕量金属暴露的行为生物标志物。
