Acute copper toxicity in the euryhaline copepod Acartia tonsa: implications for the development of an estuarine and marine biotic ligand model

Copepods (Acartia tonsa) were exposed (48 h) to waterborne, diet-borne (non-Cu-equilibrated and Cu-equilibrated food), and waterborne plus diet-borne Cu in either the absence or the presence of food (diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii). Toxicity tests were run in different salinities (5, 15, and 30 ppt) together with measurements of physicochemical parameters and total and dissolved Cu concentrations in the experimental media. Results show that most of the toxic Cu fraction was in the dissolved phase. In general, Cu toxicity was higher in low (5 ppt) than in high salinity (30 ppt), regardless of the pathway of Cu exposure tested. In the absence of food, data clearly indicate that differences in waterborne Cu toxicity can be explained by changes in water chemistry. However, addition of food (either non-Cu-equilibrated or Cu-equilibrated) to the experimental media protected against acute Cu toxicity in salinities 5 and 15 ppt, suggesting that A. tonsa requires extra energy to cope with the stressful condition imposed by Cu exposure associated with the ionoregulatory requirements in low salinities. For diet-borne exposure, a very high Cu concentration was necessary to precontaminate the diatoms to a level resulting in copepod mortality. Therefore, availability of food exerted a more important positive impact in protecting against acute Cu toxicity than its potential negative impact via contamination resulting in toxicity. Findings indicate the need for incorporation of both salinity and food in a future biotic ligand model (BLM) version for Cu in estuarine and marine waters. In this context, the euryhaline copepod A. tonsa would be a suitable model species with which to perform experiments to validate and calibrate any future saltwater BLM.