The effects of illumination, temperature and oxygen concentration on swimming activity of turbot Psetta maxima (Linné 1758)

7 pages, 5 figuresSwimming activity of turbot was recorded in a 250 m2 earthen pond by acoustic tracking and was analysed in relation to illumination, temperature and oxygen concentration. A pronounced diurnal rhythm was found, with greater activity at night. Illumination interacted with both temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration in determining swimming activity. Activity increased with temperature, particularly above 20 °C at night, without a clear effect of oxygen concentration level ranging between 4 and 9 mg l−1Peer reviewe

Prospective severity classification of scientific procedures in cephalopods: Report of a COST FA1301 Working Group Survey

Cephalopods are the first invertebrate class regulated by the European Union under Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, which requires prospective assessment of severity of procedures. To assist the scientific community in establishing severity classification for cephalopods we undertook a web-based survey of the EU cephalopod research community as represented by the participants in the COST Action FA1301-CephsInAction. The survey consisted of 50 scenarios covering a range of procedures involving several cephalopod species at different life-stages. Respondents (59 people from 15 countries) allocated a severity classification to each scenario, or indicated that they were unable to decide (UTD). Analyses evaluated score distributions and clustering. Overall, the UTD scores were low (7.0 ± 0.6%) and did not affect the severity classification. Procedures involving paralarvae and killing methods (not specified in Annexe IV) had the highest UTD scores. Consensus on non-recovery procedures was reached consistently, although occasionally non-recovery appeared to be confused with killing methods. Scenarios describing procedures above the ‘lower threshold’ for regulation, including those describing behavioural studies, were also identified and allocated throughout the full range of severity classifications. Severity classification for scenarios based on different species (e.g., cuttlefish vs. octopus) was consistent, comparable and dependent on potentially more harmful interventions. We found no marked or statistically significant differences in the overall scoring of scenarios between the demographic sub-groups (age, gender, PhD, cephalopod experience). The COST Action FA1301 survey data provides a basis for a prospective severity classification for cephalopods to serve as guide for researchers, project assessors and regulators

An ecotoxicological view on neurotoxicity assessment

The numbers of potential neurotoxicants in the environment are raising and pose a great risk for humans and the environment. Currently neurotoxicity assessment is mostly performed to predict and prevent harm to human populations. Despite all the efforts invested in the last years in developing novel in vitro or in silico test systems, in vivo tests with rodents are still the only accepted test for neurotoxicity risk assessment in Europe. Despite an increasing number of reports of species showing altered behaviour, neurotoxicity assessment for species in the environment is not required and therefore mostly not performed. Considering the increasing numbers of environmental contaminants with potential neurotoxic potential, eco-neurotoxicity should be also considered in risk assessment. In order to do so novel test systems are needed that can cope with species differences within ecosystems. In the field, online-biomonitoring systems using behavioural information could be used to detect neurotoxic effects and effect-directed analyses could be applied to identify the neurotoxicants causing the effect. Additionally, toxic pressure calculations in combination with mixture modelling could use environmental chemical monitoring data to predict adverse effects and prioritize pollutants for laboratory testing. Cheminformatics based on computational toxicological data from in vitro and in vivo studies could help to identify potential neurotoxicants. An array of in vitro assays covering different modes of action could be applied to screen compounds for neurotoxicity. The selection of in vitro assays could be guided by AOPs relevant for eco-neurotoxicity. In order to be able to perform risk assessment for eco-neurotoxicity, methods need to focus on the most sensitive species in an ecosystem. A test battery using species from different trophic levels might be the best approach. To implement eco-neurotoxicity assessment into European risk assessment, cheminformatics and in vitro screening tests could be used as first approach to identify eco-neurotoxic pollutants. In a second step, a small species test battery could be applied to assess the risks of ecosystems