Fluoxetine can make marine organisms unhappy: a study on the sub-lethal effects on marine invertebrates

The environmental effects caused by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs have been investigated for marine organisms and coastal ecosystems but are scarce in neotropical organisms. This investigation aimed to evaluate the sublethal effects of fluoxetine on the embryonic development of the sea urchin Echinometra lucunter and the survival and swimming behavior of the brine shrimp Artemia sp. The organisms were exposed to four different concentrations of fluoxetine (30, 300, 3000 and 30000 ng L-1) and to a negative control (filtered seawater), following the respective standard testing protocols. We verified a significant reduction of the embryos development to pluteus larvae, starting from 3000 ng L-1 (54.0±10.9% normal larvae), in comparison with the controls (83.5±3.1%). The non-observed effect concentration (NOEC) was estimated at 300 ng L-1, and the lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) was 3000 ng L-1. In the behavior tests with Artemia sp, no significant adverse effects were reported for mobility, swimming speed and inactivity time. These results show that Fluoxetine can interfere on the development of species like the sea urchin E. lucunter, but short term exposure did not affected the swimming behavior of the brine shrimp Artemia sp. Fluoxetine presents thus a potential to affect marine biota and disrupt the equilibrium of the coastal ecosystems

Is the microcosm approach using meiofauna community descriptors a suitable tool for ecotoxicological studies?

The usual approaches used in ecological risk assessment have been based on individual and population level standard procedures. Although these have been important tools to assess adverse effects on ecosystems, they are generally simplified and therefore lack ecological realism. Microcosm studies using meiobenthic communities offer a good compromise between the complexity of the ecosystem and the often highly artificial settings of laboratory experiments. An experiment was designed to investigate the potential of the microcosm approach using meiofauna as a tool for ecotoxicological studies. The experiment tested the ecological effects of exposure to sewage-impacted pore water simultaneously at the community level using meiofauna microcosms and at the individual level using laboratory fecundity tests with the copepod Nitokra sp. Specifically, the experiment tested the toxicity of pore water from three sites according to a contamination gradient. Both approaches were efficient in detecting differences in toxicity between the less and more contaminated sites. However, only multivariate data from community analysis detected differences in the gradient of contamination. In addition to information about toxicity, the community level microcosm experiment gave indications about sensitive and tolerant species, indirect ecological effects, as well as raised hypothesis about contamination routes and bioavailability to be tested. Considering the importance of meiofauna for benthic ecosystems, the microcosm approach using natural meiobenthic communities might be a valuable addition as a higher tier approach in ecological risk assessment, providing highly relevant ecological information on the toxicity of contaminated sediments.Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)CNPqFundacao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Univ Fed Parana, Ctr Estudos Mar, Av Beira Mar S-N, BR-83255976 Pontal Do Sul, PR, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Ctr Biol Marinha, Rodovia Manoel Hypolito Rego,Km 131-5, BR-11600000 Sao Sebastiao, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Mar, Rua Carvalho de Mendonca 144, BR-11070100 Santos, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, Campus Litoral Paulista, BR-11330900 Sao Vicente Vicente, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Mar, Rua Carvalho de Mendonca 144, BR-11070100 Santos, SP, BrazilCNPq: 308079/2015-9FAPESP: 2009/11808-3Web of Scienc