Adult Corals Are Uniquely More Sensitive to Manganese Than Coral Early-Life Stages

Manganese (Mn) is an essential element and is generally considered to be one of the least toxic metals to aquatic organisms, with chronic effects rarely seen at concentrations below 1000 mu g/L. Anthropogenic activities lead to elevated concentrations of Mn in tropical marine waters. Limited data suggest that Mn is more acutely toxic to adults than to early life stages of scleractinian corals in static renewal tests. However, to enable the inclusion of sufficient sensitive coral data in species sensitivity distributions to derive water quality guideline values for Mn, we determined the acute toxicity of Mn to the adult scleractinian coral, Acropora muricata, in flow-through exposures. The 48-h median effective concentration was 824 mu g Mn/L (based on time-weighted average, measured, dissolved Mn). The endpoint was tissue sloughing, a lethal process by which coral tissue detaches from the coral skeleton. Tissue sloughing was unrelated to superoxidase dismutase activity in coral tissue, and occurred in the absence of bleaching, that is, toxic effects were observed for the coral host, but not for algal symbionts. We confirm that adult scleractinian corals are uniquely sensitive to Mn in acute exposures at concentrations 10-340 times lower than those reported to cause acute or chronic toxicity to coral early life stages, challenging the traditional notion that early life stages are more sensitive than mature organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;00:1-12. (c) 2023 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Automated summary

Manganese (Mn) is considered one of the least toxic metals to aquatic organisms, but elevated concentrations in tropical marine waters have been found. This study shows that adult scleractinian corals are uniquely sensitive to acute exposures of Mn at concentrations much lower than those affecting early life stages, challenging the traditional notion that early life stages are more sensitive. The toxicity was observed in the coral host, not the algal symbionts.