Effects of Sediment Elutriates on the Early Reproductive Outputs in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

Abstract

This is a subsequent study to our previous finding that Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, gained a so-called upper plateau concentration, around 30,000ng/g dry weight digestive gland for benzo(a)pyrene, showed reproductive behavior but produced their ensuing reproductive outputs damaged. A serial dilution of sediment elutriates from Jinhae Bay, Korea, where pollution was progressive, were exposed to gametes of the Pacific oyster for 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60min to detail the pollutant effects on very young specimens. There was an apparent critical dilution over which adverse effects are evident. This was 10% of the present sediment elutriate, corresponding to 0.3ng/g on the basis of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for the oyster. Within the dilution the embryonic development was not influenced by the duration of exposure to its gamete stage. At higher dilutions over the critical dilution, occurrence of abnormality increased dependent on the pollutant dilution and the duration of exposure. Similar trends were also found in larval mortality. However, overall, the chemical toxicity was more significant to morphogenesis than to survival, suggesting a potential recruitment of the pollutants-induced abnormal larvae in the wild population to threaten the population integrity.