Developmental instability in grayling (Thymallus thymallus) exposed to methylmercury during embryogenesis

Embryos of grayling, Thymallus thymallus, were exposed to water with different concentrations of methylmercury (0, 0.16, 0.8, 4.0, 20 mu g Hg liter super(-1)) during egg development. After hatching they were reared in control water for 3 years. The exposure resulted in body concentrations in the new...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Environmental pollution (1987) 1998-01, Vol.101 (2), p.349-354
Hauptverfasser: Voellestad, LA, Fjeld, E, Haugen, T, Oexnevad, SA
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Embryos of grayling, Thymallus thymallus, were exposed to water with different concentrations of methylmercury (0, 0.16, 0.8, 4.0, 20 mu g Hg liter super(-1)) during egg development. After hatching they were reared in control water for 3 years. The exposure resulted in body concentrations in the newly hatched fry of 0.01, 0.09, 0.27, 0.63 and 3.80 mg Hg kg super(-1) wet wt, respectively. In this paper we test if there is an effect of the level of methylmercury exposure on developmental stability. We did this by measuring both the level of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and the departure from the population's morphological norm (i.e. a measure of morphological variability). There was no effect of contamination level on FA, whereas there was a slight increase in departure from the morphological norm in the more contaminated groups. This indicates that the level of FA or the departure from some morphological norm may be uncertain estimators of the level of sub-lethal stress.
ISSN:0269-7491