Potential biomarkers of crude oil exposure in the gastropod mollusc, Austrocochlea porcata: laboratory and manipulative field studies

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 126; no. 2; pp. 147 - 155
• Main Authors: Reid, D.J., MacFarlane, G.R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Austrocochlea porcata; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarker; biomarkers; Biomarkers - analysis; Crude oil; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastropod mollusc; Gastropoda; Glutathione - analysis; Glutathione peroxidase; Glutathione Peroxidase - analysis; Lipid Peroxidation; Manipulative field experiment; Mollusca - chemistry; Mollusca - drug effects; Petroleum - toxicity; Seawater; Sensitivity and Specificity; Water Pollution, Chemical; Australia; Glutathione peroxidase; Austrocochlea porcata; Biomarker; Crude oil; Manipulative field experiment; Gastropod mollusc; Oil spill; Toxicity; In situ; Biological marker; Lipids; Biological monitoring; Marine environment; Assay; Laboratory test; Laboratory study; Enzyme; Exposure; Experimental study; Antioxidant; Pollutant; Intertidal zone; Peroxidases; Oxidoreductases; Invertebrata; Mollusca
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/S0269-7491(03)00209-4

Surveys conducted after a crude oil spill indicated that the intertidal gastropod mollusc Austrocochlea porcata may be highly sensitive to the pollutant, and therefore also valuable as a biomonitoring organism. Toxicity tests conducted in the laboratory and field established cause-effect for A. porcata mortalities on exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of crude oil constituents. Glutathione antioxidant system components (glutathione and glutathione peroxidase, GPx) and oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation) in A. porcata were measured to determine whether any of these biochemical parameters showed potential as biomarkers of sublethal oil exposure. GPx was the most promising candidate for field-based biomarker studies after showing a dose-dependent induction to a crude oil water accommodated fraction (WAF) in laboratory assays. However, subsequent manipulative field experimentation indicated that the GPx response was not sufficiently sensitive and not necessarily predictive of population level effects when measured in situ. Gastropod molluscs may be sensitive bioindicators for crude oil exposure of estuarine communities.