U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services Historic document – Content may not reflect current scientific research, policies or practices. Technical Papers OF THE BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE 46. Acute Toxicities of Organochlorine and Organophosphorus Insecticides to Estuarine Fishes By Ronald Eisler United States Department of the Interior, Walter J. Hickel, Secretary Leslie L. Glasgew, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, Parks, and Marine Reso'urces Fish and Wildlife Service, Charles H. Meacham, Commissioner Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, John S. Gottschalk, Director Washington, D.C. March 1970 CONTENTS Page Abstract. • • • • • • • • . • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 Methods • • . • . • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • . • • • • • • . • • • • • . 3 Results. • • . • . • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • . • • • • • . • • • • . • . • 5 Discussion • • • • • • • • . • • • • • . • • • . • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • . 9 Summary and conclusions • • • • • . • • • • . • • . • • . • . • • • • • • 10 References • • • • • . • . • . • • • . • . • • . • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • . 11 2 ACUTE TOXICITIES OF ORGANOCHLORINE AND ORGANOPHOSPHORUS INSECTICIDES TO ESTAURINE FISHES By Ronald Eisler U.S. Bureau of Spon Fisheries and Wildlife Fish-Pesticide Research Program Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory, Highlands, New Jersey ABSTRACT .--Static 96-hour bioassays with 12 insecticides and seven species of estuarine teleosts (American eel, Anguilla rostrata; mummi­ chog, Fundulus heteroclitus; striped killifish, Fundulus majalis; bluehead, Thalassoma bifasciatum; striped mullet, Mugil cephalus; Atlantic silver­ side, Menidia menidia; nonhern puffer, S~oides maculatus) were conducted at 24\0 salinity, 20° C., and pH 8,0, Endrin was consistently the most toxic and methyl parathion consistently the least toxic compound tested. The descending order of insecticide toxicity to fishes at 96 hours was endrin, p,p'-DDT, dieldrin, aldrin, dioxathion, heptachlor, lindane, methoxychlor,-Phosdrin, malathion, DDVP, and methyl parathion. Concentrations fatal to 50 percent of each species in 96 hours (LC50 values) ranged from 0,05to 3.1 micrograms per liter (ppb) active ingre­ dients with endrin, 0,4 to 89 ppb with p,p'-DDT, 0.9 to 34 ppb with dieldrin, 6 to 75 ppb with dioxathion, 0,8 to 19rppb with heptachlor, 9 to 66 ppb with lindane, 12 to 150 ppb with methoxychlor, 65 to 800 ppb with Phosdrin, 27 to 3,250 ppb with malathion, 225 to 2,680 ppb with DDVP, and 5,200 to 75,800 ppb with methyl parathion. Numerous problems are associated with the teleosts. It is one of a continuing series of widespread use and occurrence of synthetic repons (Eisler and Edmunds, 1966; Eisler insecticides in aquatic habitats (Cope, 1965; and Weinstein, 1967; Eisler, 1967, 1969a, Tarzwell, 1965), Marine and brackish-water l 969b) documenting effects of pesticides on species that frequent coastal inshore environ­ marine and estuarine organisms. ments are panicularly susceptible to chemical I am obligated to William Birkhead, Philip insecticides because of the propensity of these Edmunds, George Gardner, Louise Geller, compounds to diffuse from drainage systems Louis Ortiz, William Reisen, Ann Sawyer, and accumulate in estuaries (Butler, 1966; Melvin Weinstein, and Wayne Weseman for Eisler, 1968), This account repons on the their aid in procurement of test animals and toxicity of 12 common insecticides during a maintenance of experiments. 96-hour period to seven species of estuarine METHODS The author's present address is U.S. Depanment of the Interior, Federal Water All experiments were conducted at the Sandy Pollution Control Administration, National Hook Marine Laboratory, Highlands, N, J, Marine Water Quality Laboratory, West in a windowless room at 20° ± 0,5° C, Illu­ Kingston, Rhode Island 02892. mination consisted of 20 to 25 foot-candles 3 4 Technical Paper 46: Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife for about 10 hours daily alternating with 2 to individual assay aquariums to achieve desired 3 ft.-c. for about 14 hours, delivered by fluo­ concentrations. Experimental aquariums were rescent and incandescent sources. Seawater of 20-liter jars filled with 19 liters of test 24°fc, 0 ± i% 0 salinity and pH 8,0 ± 0.1 was medium. Each jar was covered with a glass obtained from a well 19 meters underground. disk perforated with a single hole 6 mm in A major advantage of the ground water supply diameter. Results of preliminary tests at is the elimination of detritus, plankton, and Sandy Hook showed that many species of attaching organisms, any of which if present marine fishes died within 24 hours unless the in sufficient abundance would probably affect static medium was aerated; accordingly, fil­ results of toxicity experiments. Additional tered compressed air was supplied via 3-mm information on composition of the test medium glass tubing. Aeration did not measurably is documented by Clark and Eisler (1964). affect pH, salinity, or temperature of the test medium. Dissolved oxygen content of media among the test jars was determined periodi­ Seven organochloride and five organophos­ cally with a YSI oxygen probe, and ranged phorus insecticides were tested. All com­ between 7.1 and 7.7 mg per liter. To insure pounds, with the exception of DDVP, were complete mixing, insecticides were added procured from the Entomological Society to the aerated test medium 45 minutes be­ of America (Dawsey, 1964). ESA reference fore the assay species. Results of repeated standards were p,p'-DDT (l,l,l-trichloro-2, 96-hour bioassays that I conducted indicate 2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane); aldrin (1,2,3, negligible loss in toxicity of any test insecti­ 4, 10, 10-hexachloro-l,4,4a,5, 8,8a-hexahydro-l, cide during the first 45 minutes. 4-endo__ ,_ exo-5 . 8-dimethanonaphthalene); diel- drin (1,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-6, 7-epoxy-l, Between April 1964 and June 1966, seven 4,4a,5,6, 7,8,8a-octahydro-l,4-endo,exo-5, species of estuarine teleosts were collected 8-dimethanonaphthalene); endrin (1,2,3,4,10, and tested: American eel, Anguilla rostrata 10-hexachloro-6, 7-epoxy-l,4,4a,5,6, 7,8, (Lesueur), Anguillidae; mummichog, Fundulus Ba-octahydro-l,4-endo,endo-5,8-dimethano- heteroclitus (Linnaeus), Cyprinodontidae; n a p ht ha 1 en e); heptachlor (1,4,5,6, 7,8, striped killifish, Fundulus majalis (Wal­ 8-heptachloro-3a,4,7, 7a-tetrahydro-4, 7-endo­ baum), Cyprinodontidae; bluehead, Thalassoma methanoindene); lindane ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-hexa­ bifasciatum (Bloch), Labridae; striped mullet, chlorocyclohexane, gamma isomer); methoxy­ Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, Mugilidae; Atlan­ chlor (2, 2-bis(p-m et ho x y p hen y 1)-1, 1, tic silverside Menidia menidia (Linnaeus), I-trichloroethane), malathion (Q,Q-dimethyl­ Atherinidae; and northern puffer, Sphaeroides .§-[1,2-di(ethoxycarbonyl)ethyl]phosphorodi­ maculatus (Bloch and Schneider), Tetraodon­ thioate); methyl parathion (Q,Q-dimethyl tidae. All species except eels, blueheads, and 0-P-nitrophenyl phosphorothioate); Phosdrin puffers were collected with a beach seine dimethyl­ <2-~arboxymethoxy-l-propen-2-yl from Sandy Hook Bay. Puffers were taken phosphate and its beta isomer); and dioxathion from a commercial fish trap in Sandy Hook (2,3-p-dioxane ~.~-bis(Q,Q-diethylphosphoro­ Bay. Eels were seined from the outlet of dithioate). A sample of DDVP <Q,Q-dimethyl Shadow Lake, a tributary of the Navesink 0-2 2-dichlorovinyl phosphate) was ob- River which in turn drains into the Bay. Blue­ from the Shell Chemical Company, rain~d heads were purchased from a commercial New York, N. Y. Physical, chemical, and phar­ fish collector in Florida. macological properties of all test compounds except dioxathion and Phosdrin are presented All fishes were held for 10 to 14 days in by Negherbon ( 1959). Similar data for dioxathion aquariums of 1,000 liters capacity filled with and Phosdrin are available from the producers aerated, saline well water. Values for salinity (dioxathion, Hercules Co., Wilmington, Del.; (24r ), pH (8.0) and temperature (20° C.) of Phosdrin, Shell Chemical Co.). 00 water from the underground well approximated Each insecticide was dissolved in acetone. those of the natural environment from which Using serial dilution techniques, one ml of test animals were captured. Only actively acetone-insecticide solution was added to feeding animals were used in experiments. Ronald Eisler: Toxicities of Insecticides to Estuarine Fishes 5 Interspecies differences in age and size were Like r, the rank correlation coefficient r 5 considerable because of the availability of can range from -1 (complete discordance) to different size ranges of test fishes and diffi­ +l (complete concordance). In the present culties inherent in maintaining species for application the variable selected for analysis 2 weeks before assay. For the Atlantic silver­ was the LC50 (96 h) value. For each species side, information on mean length, mean weight, these 12 values were ranked in order of total weight per jar, and total number used in toxicity with the most toxic=l and the least each assay is shown in table 1. Similar infor­ toxic=l2. Subsequently, rs values were deter­ mation for the bluehead, striped killifish, mined for all possible combinations of two striped mullet, American eel, mummichog, rankings that is, each species was compared and northern puffer are shown in tables 2 against every other species). through 7. For all species tested, mean length for any assay was within 7 percent of the