Table Of ContentThe Pollution Biology of Aquatic Oligochaetes
A specimen of Tubifex tubifex from the culture in the laboratory of Animal Ecotoxicology and
Water Quality at the University of Basque Country. Photo: Pilar Rodriguez.
Pilar Rodriguez • Trefor B. Reynoldson
The Pollution Biology
of Aquatic Oligochaetes
Pilar Rodriguez Trefor B. Reynoldson
Department of Zoology Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research
and Animal Cell Biology National Water Research Institute
Faculty of Science and Technology Environment Canada
University of the Basque Country Acadia University
P.O. Box 644 Bilbao 48080 P.O. Box 115
Spain Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6
[email protected] Canada
[email protected]
There are instances where we have been unable to trace or contact the copyright holder. If notified
the publisher will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.
ISBN 978-94-007-1717-6 e-ISBN 978-94-007-1718-3
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1718-3
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011934967
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Prologue
Some 30 years ago, Ralph Brinkhurst thought that it would be appropriate to
prepare a volume pulling together the current state of knowledge on the biology of
aquatic oligochaetes. This led to a meeting of those involved in oligochaete research
and a subsequent volume which was the first Proceedings of the International
Symposia of Aquatic Oligochaeta, held in Sidney, British Columbia in 1979
(Brinkhurst and Cook 1980) and was not a review but rather a summary of the state
of the art of the studies on biology of aquatic oligochaetes at that time, including the
biology of pollution. That first meeting in British Columbia initiated a triennial
series of meetings and proceedings including ecotoxicology and pollution. In 1997,
from these beginnings, Ralph suggested that we continue work that he had already
initiated and over the ensuing period we have gradually completed this project both
individually, in the rare periods that teaching or research projects has allowed us
time, and also together. We have had to convince our family to meet in Canada,
Spain, or Wales, for a few weeks every year from 1997, to move the work forward.
For that we are very grateful for the indulgence of our families, for their patient and
unconditional support over these years.
As the work has taken longer than expected, the additions to and re-organisation
of the original manuscript have been substantial and, while Ralph is not a co-author
on the volume, we wish to acknowledge his role in both developing the original
manuscript and the fact that without his first contribution the book would probably
have never seen the light of day. Thus, we wish to express our gratitude to Ralph
Brinkhurst, colleague and good friend, for his key role in the development of this
book. We also wish to express our gratitude to an array of colleagues which have
helped with this volume. Particularly, Philipp Egeler for his review and valuable
comments on the draft manuscript on bioaccumulation. Our gratitude also to Ruth
Collado, Steve Fend, David Fogarty, Enrique Navarro, Adrian Pinder, Tarmo Timm,
and Mark Wetzel for answering an array of questions.
The first author wants to express thanks for the financial support for the acquisi-
tion of part of the bibliographic material as well as part of work invested in this
book, by the projects CGL2005-04943, CGL2008-04502 (Spanish Government)
and IT405-10 (Basque Government). The second author would also like to
v
vi Prologue
acknowledge Environment Canada who supported this work before his retirement.
We also wish to thank the various publishers who have given permission to repro-
duce published data and especially to Springer who have financed the publication of
the book. We hope that it will be useful in your research and teaching, this will have
made our effort worthwhile.
Finally we would like to dedicate this book to our respective fathers, to
D. Primitivo Rodriguez who from childhood instilled a thirst for knowledge and
scientific discovery and Professor Thomas B. Reynoldson who led the way in working
with oligochaete worms.
February 2011 Pilar Rodriguez
Trefor B. Reynoldson
Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background on Aquatic Oligochaetes in Pollution Biology ............. 1
1.2 Purpose and Contents of the Book .................................................... 5
References .................................................................................................. 6
2 Taxonomy of Aquatic Oligochaetes ........................................................ 9
2.1 What Is an Oligochaete Worm? ........................................................ 10
2.2 Classification of the Clitellata ........................................................... 11
2.3 Species Identification and Some Taxonomic Observations .............. 15
2.3.1 Naidids and Tubificids ........................................................... 17
2.3.2 Lumbriculids .......................................................................... 19
2.3.3 Phreodrilids ............................................................................ 20
2.3.4 Enchytraeids .......................................................................... 21
2.3.5 Lumbricine Worms ................................................................ 21
References .................................................................................................. 22
3 Ecology and Field Studies ....................................................................... 29
3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 30
3.2 Freshwater Community Studies ........................................................ 30
3.3 Estuarine and Marine Studies............................................................ 46
3.4 Analytical Methods ........................................................................... 53
3.4.1 Indices and Metrics ................................................................ 55
3.4.2 Multivariate Approaches ....................................................... 66
3.5 Other Field Approaches .................................................................... 71
3.5.1 Size Spectrum Analysis ......................................................... 71
3.5.2 Mesocosms ............................................................................ 72
3.5.3 Field Bioaccumulation ........................................................... 72
3.5.4 Chaetal Alterations ................................................................ 74
3.6 Bioturbation....................................................................................... 74
3.7 Conclusions and Remarks ................................................................. 76
References .................................................................................................. 77
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viii Contents
4 Toxicology and Laboratory Studies ........................................................ 87
4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 88
4.2 Water-Only Toxicity Tests ................................................................. 93
4.2.1 Acute Freshwater Tests .......................................................... 93
4.2.2 Acute Estuarine and Marine Tests ......................................... 105
4.2.3 Chronic Freshwater Water-Only Tests ................................... 106
4.2.4 Chronic Estuarine and Marine Water-Only Tests .................. 109
4.3 Sediment Toxicity Tests .................................................................... 111
4.3.1 Acute Freshwater Sediment Tests .......................................... 111
4.3.2 Acute Estuarine and Marine Sediment Tests ......................... 117
4.3.3 Chronic Freshwater Sediment Tests ...................................... 118
4.3.4 Chronic Estuarine and Marine Sediment Tests ...................... 130
4.3.5 In Situ Bioassays ................................................................... 132
4.4 Comparative Sensitivity with Other Invertebrates ............................ 133
4.5 Acclimation and Genetic Adaptation ................................................ 136
4.6 Biomarkers ........................................................................................ 138
4.7 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 147
References .................................................................................................. 148
5 Bioaccumulation and Trophic Transfer ................................................. 159
5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 160
5.2 Uptake, Storage and Elimination ...................................................... 162
5.2.1 Uptake .................................................................................... 163
5.2.2 Storage ................................................................................... 167
5.2.3 Elimination ............................................................................ 169
5.3 Body Burden and Sediment Concentration ....................................... 172
5.3.1 Metals .................................................................................... 173
5.3.2 Organic Chemicals ................................................................ 177
5.4 Bioaccumulation and Toxicity .......................................................... 183
5.5 Transfer Through Food-Chain and Biomagnification ....................... 186
5.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 192
References .................................................................................................. 192
6 Methodological Issues .............................................................................. 201
6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 201
6.2 Sampling ........................................................................................... 202
6.3 Fixation, Preservation and Preparation of Material .......................... 203
6.4 Biomass Estimation ........................................................................... 205
6.5 Culture of Animals ............................................................................ 206
6.6 Identification ..................................................................................... 209
6.7 Toxicity Tests .................................................................................... 210
6.7.1 Water-Only Toxicity Tests ..................................................... 210
6.7.2 Sediment Toxicity Tests ......................................................... 211
6.8 Bioaccumulation ............................................................................... 217
References .................................................................................................. 219
Contents ix
7 Appendices ............................................................................................... 225
7.1 Appendix 1 ........................................................................................ 226
7.2 Appendix 2 ........................................................................................ 242
Index ................................................................................................................ 263
