Sublethal silver and NaCl toxicity in Daphnia magna: a comparative study of standardized chronic endpoints and...

Behavioral bioassays with the model freshwater cladoceran Daphnia magna have the potential to serve as nontraditional but sensitive endpoints of sublethal stress. However, few studies have examined the comparative sensitivity of neonate phototaxis perturbations to standardized endpoints commonly employed in chronic toxicity testing protocols. Even less understood are the consequences of prenatal exposure on neonate phototactic behavior. Here, we tested the hypothesis that D. magna neonate phototaxis is a more sensitive endpoint over a chronic study period than mortality and reproduction. D. magna 21 day studies were conducted with model stressors of sodium chloride and dissolved silver. Phototaxis assays of progeny response to relative light changes in small water columns were conducted for each brood. Significant differences in neonate phototactic behavior were observed among treatment level broods, suggesting that maternal exposure to sublethal levels of NaCl and Ag+ impacted offspring. In fact, progeny phototactic response was significantly affected at or below 21-day LOEC thresholds for fecundity in broods 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the NaCl experiment and in broods 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the dissolved Ag+ study. Because neonate phototaxis was generally more sensitive than standardized fecundity thresholds, we suggest employing neonate phototaxis as an ecologically important endpoint in future ecological risk assessments.