© 1986 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Use of Fundulus heteroclitus in Pollution Studies1
U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Washington D.C. 20240
The mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus (L.), an estuarine cyprinodontiform teleost, is used extensively and increasingly as a bioassay organism in toxicological investigations and as an indicator of marine water quality owing, in part, to its wide geographic range, abundance throughout most of that range, and adaptability to laboratory conditions. Available data are summarized for acute toxicities to mummichog adults of 118 contaminants at 22±2% salinity, 19.5±0.5°C, pH 7.8±0.2, and dissolved oxygen >4.0 mg/liter. Organochlorine insecticides were the most toxic chemicals tested under these conditions; approximate concentrations of 15 organochlorine pesticide compounds fatal to 50% in 96 hr ranged between 0.0001 mg/liter and 0.1 mg/liter. Comparable data for other groups of chemicals were: 11 organophosphorus insecticides, 0.001 and 100.0 mg/ liter; 30 trace metals and metalloids, 0.01 and 10,000.0 mg/liter; 34 synthetic detergents, 1.0 and 1,000.0 mg/liter; 10 chemical oil dispersants, 1.0 and 10,000.0 mg/liter; 13 oildispersant mixtures, 100.0 and 10,000.0 mg/liter; 3 household soaps, 100.0 and 10,000.0 mg/liter; and 2 crude oils, 1,000.0 and>10,000.0 mg/liter. Parameters currently used to evaluate sublethal effects of pollutants in mummichogs include bioaccumulation, histopathology, growth and early development, teratology, liver enzymes, blood chemistry, fin regeneration, organ weight, and behavior; these are illustrated with appropriate examples. There is a need for more pertinent variables to assess toxicant-induced stress in mummichogs.