Freshwater toxicity testing using rehydrated Philodina sp. (Rotifera) as test animals

Rotifers have become widely used in aquatic toxicology as a rapid screening test for toxicity. The commercial availability of diapausing embryos (cysts) have facilitated their popularity because test animals can be obtained without having to master the details of culturing. Other rotifer species have life stages capable of surviving desiccation and also could be used in non-culture systems for toxicity assessment. In this article, we describe a system for toxicity testing in freshwater based on rehydrating desiccated bdelloid rotifers in the genus Philodina. These animals can remain in this anhydrobiotic state for more than one year and then rehydrate within hours to provide animals for toxicity tests. We describe three endpoints: a 1.5 h ingestion test, a 24 h mortality test, and a five day reproductive test. The latter test requires feeding and a method using a dried commercial product is explained. Using desiccated rotifers and dried food in toxicity tests make this system especially attractive because of its flexibility and low threshold of biological expertise required to execute the tests. The use of the Philodina toxicity test is illustrated with four metals: copper, lead, mercury and cadmium. Reproduction generally was the most sensitive endpoint, with EC50s of 0.33, 0.44, 0.60, and 0.12 mg/L, respectively. Ingestion was a close second with EC50s of 0.13, 1.64, 0.64, and 6.26 mg/L, respectively.