Daphnia magna Feeding Behavior after Exposure to Tetradifon and Recovery from Intoxication

The feeding behavior of the cladocera Daphnia magna subjected to a short-term exposure to the acaricide tetradifon (4-chlorophenyl 2,4,5-trichlorophenyl sulfone) was studied. The experiments were performed using the unicellular algae Nannochloris oculata at a density of 5×105 cells/ml as food for the organisms. In a first experiment, three generations (F0, F1, and F3) of the daphnids were exposed to sublethal levels of tetradifon (0.1, 0.18, 0.22, and 0.44 mg/l) and the effect of the toxicant on filtration and ingestion rates was determined. Rates of filtration and ingestion of D. magna declined in the three generations studied with increasing toxicant concentrations; however, toxicant effect was greater in daphnids from generations F1 and F3 than in those from the parental generation F0. A second experiment was conducted in order to evaluate whether animals of a first (1) or third (F3) generation coming from parental daphnids (F0) previously exposed to those pesticide concentrations exhibited any alteration in feeding behavior when transferred to clean water (recovery period). The results indicated that the feeding rates of D. magna generations F1 and F3 were still affected during the recovery period but to a less degree. The effective tetradifon concentrations D. magna at which feeding rates were reduced to 50% that of controls (EC50) were also calculated.