Abstract:
In this study, the suitability of the M. cornuarietis embryo toxicity test (MariETT) for environmental chemicals was investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity of the recently introduced M. cornuarietis embryo toxicity test (MariETT) using selected metals (inorganic pollutants) and pesticides (organic pollutants), and to compare its sensitivity and practicability to other established bioassay. The following endpoints were observed: mortality, formation of tentacles and eyes, heart rate, hatching success, hatching time, and weight after hatching. Furthermore, this study aimed at assessing the sublethal effects of metals in juveniles of M. cornuarietis under laboratory conditions, by means of histopathology. Histopathological changes in hepatopancreas, epidermis, and gills of the snails were studied.
The results showed that the embryo MariETT assay is sensitive to pesticides and metals. Comparing lowest observed effect concentrations (LOECs) of the tested chemicals in this study with available from established biotests data, it become obvious that LOECs for M. cornuarietis were lower than those recorded for embryo of D. rerio. Moreover, the results showed that both copper and lithium ions caused significant histopathological changes in all investigated tissues of the exposed snails.