Glyphosate-based herbicides affect behavioural patterns of the livebearer Jenynsia multidentata

Roundup (R) is one of the most widely marketed glyphosate-based herbicides in the world. There are many different formulations of this brand that differ from each other in glyphosate concentration, salts and adjuvants, including surfactants, which are labelled as inert compounds. Several studies have shown that these formulations are highly toxic to fish, even compared with pure glyphosate. However, mechanisms underlying this toxicity are not fully understood. In this context, this study evaluated the effects of exposure to Roundup Original (R) (RO), Roundup Transorb (R) (RT), and Roundup WG (R) (RWG) on the behavioural patterns of the livebearer Jenynsia multidentata. This fish naturally inhabits agricultural areas in southern Brazil and Argentina where glyphosate is used extensively. In the experiment, animals were exposed to the herbicides for 96 h, at the environmentally relevant concentration of 0.5 mg/L of glyphosate. Swimming performance, anxiety, aggressiveness, long-term memory and male sexual activity were recorded. The formulation RWG negatively affected swimming performance, thigmotaxia and long-term memory consolidation. Conversely, RT reduced the sexual performance of males. These results confirm that Roundup (R) formulations are extremely harmful and also that they have different targets of toxicity, affecting behaviours that are essential for fish survival.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effects of different formulations of Roundup on the behavioral patterns of livebearer fish, finding that RWG negatively affected swimming performance and long-term memory, while RT reduced sexual performance in males. These results confirm the extreme harmfulness of Roundup formulations and their different targets of toxicity on behaviors essential for fish survival.