Effects of dissolved cyanobacterial toxins on the survival and egg hatching of estuarine calanoid copepods

M. Reinikainen*, F. Lindvall, J. Meriluoto, S. Repka, K. Sivonen, L. Spoof, M. Wahlsten

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Toxic cyanobacteria occur in fresh, brackish, and marine waters worldwide. Harmful effects of intact cyanobacterial cells on zooplankton are well known, but only a few studies have focused on the effects of dissolved toxins. We investigated experimentally how the cyanobacterial toxins anatoxin-a, microcystin-LR, and nodularin affect estuarine calanoid copepods, by monitoring effects on egg hatching and survival in Eurytemora affinis. We also investigated effects of nodularin on the survival of Acartia bifilosa. All exposures were carried out using purified dissolved toxins. We found that the egg hatching was unaffected by these toxins, whereas survival was marginally affected by high concentrations of anatoxin-a and nodularin. For microcystin-LR, we found reduced survival at concentrations that were lower than those known to affect other meso-zooplankton.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)577-583
Number of pages7
JournalMarine Biology
Volume140
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2002
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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