COPPER SENSITIVITY OF PACIFIC HERRING, 



CLUPEA HARENGUS PALLASl, 



DURING ITS EARLY LIFE HISTORY 



D. W. Rice, Jr and F. L. Harrison' 



-i 



ABSTRACT 



Embryos and larvae of the Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi, were exposed to copper, using a 

 flow-through bioassay system. Herring embryos were exposed continuously from 12 h after fertiliza- 

 tion until hatching, and larvae were exposed from the time of hatching until yolk sac absorption. 

 Embryos were also exposed to 36-h duration pulses of copper in order to evaluate the sensitivy of 

 different developmental stages of herring embryos to copper. Pulsed exposures started at 62, 98, or 136 

 h after fertilization. The following measurements were taken as indices of the toxic effects of copper: 

 cumulative mortality, percent hatching, and larval length upon hatching. 



The onset of mortality of herring embryos continuously exposed to copper began 90 h after fertiliza- 

 tion, with deaths occuring over a short interval thereafter (response period). Significant embryo 

 mortalities occurred at a copper concentration as low as 35 /xg/1. Herring larvae continuously exposed 

 to copper showed significant mortality at 300 ju.g/1 copper, with no delay in the onset of mortality. 

 Embryos exposed to 36-h pulses of copper during different developmental stages showed reduced 

 sensitivity when exposed after the response period. Larvae that hatched from eggs exposed to a 36-h 

 pulse of copper before the response period grew significantly less than those hatched from eggs exposed 

 during later developmental stages. 



Numerous studies have shown that many aquatic 

 animals are adversely affected by increased levels 

 of copper in water; most of the work on fishes has 

 been restricted to freshwater species (Becker and 

 Thatcher 1973; Brungs et al. 1976). Since 90^f of 

 the world's marine fish are taken from the conti- 

 nental shelf and nearshore upwelling areas (Wal- 

 dichuk 1974), increases in copper pollution in 

 coastal aquatic ecosystems are of particular con- 

 cern. 



The concentration of copper in unpolluted near- 

 shore waters ranges from 0.3 to 3.8 /Lig/1 (Chester 

 and Stoner 1974). Increased concentrations of cop- 

 per in coastal waters have resulted from the re- 

 lease of municipal waste waters (Mytelka et al. 

 1973; Mitchell and McDermott 1975) and of 

 effluents from power plants ( Hoss et al. 1975; Mar- 

 tin et al. 1977). In polluted waters, concentrations 

 as high as 13,900 /xg/l copper have been reported 

 (Mitchell and McDermott 1975). 



Examination of the toxic effects of copper on 

 coastal marine fisheries is important for the estab- 

 lishment of water quality standards that will pro- 

 tect fishery resources of coastal zones. Eggs and 



'Environmental Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore 

 Laboratory, University of California, Livermore, CA 94550. 



Manuscript accepted September 1977. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN; VOL. 76, NO. 2, 1978. 



larval stages of fish are reported to be the life 

 history stages that are most sensitive to a variety 

 of pollutants (Skidmore 1965; Pickering and Gast 

 1972; Struhsaker et al. 1974; Christensen 1975). 

 The necessity of conducting toxicity tests during 

 the most susceptible stage in the life history of an 

 organism has been emphasized by Hynes (1970), 

 and the sensitivity of vertebrate embryos to heavy 

 metals has been suggested as a criterion for water 

 quality by Birge and Just (1973). 



While some work has been done to assess the 

 toxicity of copper to the early life history stages of 

 freshwater fishes (Mount 1968; Hazel and Meith 

 1970; McKim and Benoit 1971; O'Rear 1972; 

 Gardner and La Roche 1973; Benoit 1975), little 

 assessment has been made of toxic effects of copper 

 on marine fishes. Such studies should be very im- 

 portant since mortalities that occur during the 

 early life history stages of marine fish strongly 

 influence the strength of a given year class offish 

 (May 1974; Bannister et al. 1974; Postuma and 

 Zijlstra 1974; Gushing 1975; Vaughan and Saila 

 1976). Toxic effects that have an impact upon sur- 

 vival during early developmental stages would 

 also act to reduce the strength of a given year class 

 offish. The embryos and larvae of the Pacific her- 

 ring, Clupea harengus pallasi, represent a useful 



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