The influence of worm age, duration of exposure and endpoint selection on bioassay sensitivity for neanthes arenaceodentata (Annelida: Polychaeta)

The influence of worm age, duration of exposure, and endpoint selection on bioassay sensitivity were evaluated for Neanthes arenaceodentata. Worms were exposed to contaminated sediment collected from Black Rock Harbor (BRH) near Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. This sediment was diluted with clean control sediment to result in five experimental treatments: 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% BRH. Three exposure scenarios were employed: (1) a 4-week exposure beginning with newly emerged juveniles (EJ-4w), (2) a 7-week exposure beginning with newly emerged juveniles (EJ-7w), and (3) a I 4-week exposure beginning with 3-week-old juveniles (3WO-4w). Six measures of worm size were recorded at the conclusion of each exposure to evaluate differences among measurement endpoints. Survival was significantly reduced at the 25% BRH level for the EJ-7w scenario and at the 100% BRH level for the EJ-4w and 3WO-4w scenarios. Growth was significantly reduced at the 25% BRH level in each exposure scenario. Estimates based on the calculated minimum detectable difference indicated that considerably lower concentrations of BRH (6-10%) should be distinguishable by measuring effects on Neanthes growth. Worm size measured in terms of projected area, dry weight, and ash-free dry weight provided the most sensitive measures of effects. Increasing the length of exposure from 4 to 7 weeks and initiating exposures with emergent juveniles rather than 3-week-old worms increased the sensitivity of the bioassay. The results of this study demonstrate that N. arenaceodentata is sensitive to the presence of sediment-associated contaminants and that test animal age, duration of exposure, and choice of endpoint can have a large effect on the magnitude of the toxic response observed.