PARENT SESSION
WP5 - Riverine Discharge of Contaminants to Coastal Systems
Chair: Standley, Laurel¹, ¹ 109 I Chestnut Crossing Drive, Newark, DE
2:10 PM to 5:30 PM - Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Room Ballroom D

(613) The effects of unmodified and weathered toxaphene on the growth and condition of Fundulus heteroclitus.

Zimmerman, Jeanne¹, Maruya, Keith^*,1, ¹ Savannah State University, Savannah, GA

ABSTRACT- The effects of elevated toxaphene residues on estuarine species are largely unknown. Our objective was to compare the effects of unmodified ("TTX") vs. sediment weathered ("SED") toxaphene on the growth and gonadal/hepatic condition of the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus). We exposed test fish to contaminated food (~50 ppm TOX) for 60 days and measured growth, gonado-, and hepatosomatic indices (GSI and HSI, respectively) every 2 weeks. Toxaphene concentrations in gonads and hepatopancreas were estimated by gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC-ECD). Fish exposed to TTX were smaller and exhibited elevated mean HSIs relative to those in the SED treatment and controls by the end of the experiment. The mean GSI for TTX-exposed fish was statistically lower than that for SED-exposed fish, and was less than half that of the control group after 2 weeks. Toxaphene concentrations in gonads (8-17 g/g wet wt.) and hepatopancreas (20-150 g/g wet wt.) increased with exposure time in both treatments. These results suggest that sediment weathered residues of toxaphene are less toxic to fish relative to the original (unmodified) formulation.

Key words: toxaphene, Fundulus, growth, exposure condition