Evaluation of bioassays to monitor surface microlayer toxicity in tropical marine waters

Bioassays were developed, using embryos of: coral,Montastraea faveolata; graysby, Epinephelus cruentatus;grouper, Epinephelus adscensionis x gruttatus (hybrid); queenconch, Strombus gigas; rock-boring urchin, Echinodermatalucunter; spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus; variegatedurchin, Lytechinus variegatus; winged pearl oyster, Pteriacolymbus; and yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus. Relativesensitivities and precison of various species-endpoint combinations wereevaluated using three reference toxicants: copper, sodium dodecyl sulfate,and Dibrom(R). The 24-h P. colymbus embryo test had the best overallsensitivity and exhibited a high degree of precision. However, oyster embryoswere difficult to obtain and did not aggregate at the air-water interface.Therefore, the P. colymbus embryo test was deemed unsuitable for useas a bioassay for monitoring sea-surface microlayer (SSML) toxicity. Testsbased on normal development of L. variegatus to the early pluteus 3stage and percent normal-live C. nebulosus larvae at 48 h wererelatively sensitive and exhibited good replicability and repeatability. TheL. variegatus urchin embryo test was also found to be highlyreproducible. The results of this comparative study indicated that L.variegatus and C. nebulosus were suitable surrogates forcoral-reef species in toxicity assessments of the SSML.