Acute lethal and teratogenic effects of tributyltin chloride and copper chloride on mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) eggs and larvae

Acute and chronic bioassays were used to evaluate the lethal and sublethal effects of copper chloride and tributyltin chloride on mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) embryos, a pelagic life stage often found in the surface microlayer where anthropogenic contaminants can accumulate. Acute bioassay testing determined the median lethal concentration (LC50) for the test organism after 48 h of exposure. Chronic toxicity tests were used to determine the measurement of sublethal parameters, such as developmental abnormalities after 72-h exposures to the toxicants. Embryos were collected 4 h postfertilization and subsequently exposed to 1, 5, 25, 50, and 100 mu g/L of copper chloride and 3, 10, 20, 30, and 50 mu g/L of tributyltin chloride. Analysis of hatch rate percentage determined that the mean 48-h LC50 of copper chloride and tributyltin chloride was 32.8 and 16.7 mu g/L, respectively, based on the pooled data of four experiments with four replicates for each metal. Consistent abnormalities, such as yolk sac swelling, spinal deformities, and decreased hatch rates, were observed for each metal. Teratogenic responses to copper chloride and tributyltin chloride demonstrate the need to investigate further the impacts of pollution in the open oceans to a species indigenous to, and commercially important to, the Florida (USA) coasts. This information could then lead to the future development of a surface microlayer bioassay using mahi mahi embryos.