Abstract
Reproduction in Tubifex tubifex is being used as part of a suite of indicators of sediment toxicity in Canada and Spain, and reproduction of T. tubifex is being considered as a component of sediment objectives for environmental regulation and clean-up in the Canadian Great Lakes. The data being used to set these reproductive targets have been developed from a single culture of T. tubifex from Lake Erie. The plasticity of this particular species is well known and before it can be adopted widely as a test organism it is necessary to determine whether a single culture source should be used or if cultures derived from different populations respond similarly. A series of experiments with two cultures, one from Lake Erie the second from a small mountain stream in Northern Spain have shown that the Spanish worms appear to produce fewer cocoons per adult (mean 8.6 S.D. 1.0) than those from Lake Erie (mean 10.4 S.D. 0.3) at 22.5 °C, a standard test temperature. The number of young produced per adult by the Spanish culture is also lower (mean 19.0 S.D. 4.6) than the L. Erie population (mean 30.6 S.D. 2.3), however, the Spanish population has higher reproductions rates at a lower temperature. The Spanish worms also have lower and more variable growth rates than the Canadian population. There also appear to be slight differences in the sensitivities to toxicants, with the Canadian worms having higher LC50s for copper, chromium and cadmium. While there are differences in the responses in the two cultures these are not considered to be sufficient to invalidate the use of either population in a standard bioassay protocol as long as appropriate calibration and validation are undertaken.
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Reynoldson, T.B., Rodriguez, P. & Martinez Madrid, M. A comparison of reproduction, growth and acute toxicity in two populations of Tubifex tubifex (Müller,1774) from the North American Great Lakes and Northern Spain. Hydrobiologia 334, 199–206 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017370
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017370