Iron and Manganese Retention of Juvenile Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Exposed to Contaminated Dietary Zooplankton (Daphnia pulex)—a Model Experiment

• Published in: Biological trace element research Vol. 199; no. 2; pp. 732 - 743
• Main Authors: Herman, Petra, Fehér, Milán, Molnár, Áron, Harangi, Sándor, Sajtos, Zsófi, Stündl, László, Fábián, István, Baranyai, Edina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bioaccumulation; Biochemistry; Biological magnification; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Body weight gain; Danio rerio; Daphnia pulex; Dietary supplements; Dosage; Feeding experiments; Fish; Food chains; Food contamination; Food webs; Freshwater; Freshwater crustaceans; Freshwater fishes; Growth rate; Heavy metals; Individual rearing; Inland water environment; Iron; Life Sciences; Manganese; Metals; Nutrition; Oncology; Plankton; Predators; Prey; Redundancy; Retention; Transfer factor; Zebrafish; Zooplankton; Iron; Trophic transfer; Elemental analysis; Manganese; Daphnia pulex; Danio rerio
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-020-02190-z

In present study the effect of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) contamination was assessed by modeling a freshwater food web of water, zooplankton ( Daphnia pulex ), and zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) under laboratory conditions. Metals were added to the rearing media of D. pulex , and enriched zooplankton was fed to zebrafish in a feeding trial. The elemental analysis of rearing water, zooplankton, and fish revealed significant difference in the treatments compared to the control. In D. pulex the Mn level increased almost in parallel with the dose of supplementation, as well as the Fe level differed statistically. A negative influence of the supplementation on the fish growth was observed: specific growth rate (SGR%) and weight gain (WG) decreased in Fe and Mn containing treatments. The redundancy analysis (RDA) of concentration data showed strong correlation between the rearing water and D. pulex , as well as the prey organism of Fe- and Mn-enriched D. pulex and the predator organism of D. rerio . The bioconcentration factors (BCF) calculated for water to zooplankton further proved the relationship between the Fe and Mn dosage applied in the treatments and measured in D. pulex . Trophic transfer factor (TTF) results also indicate that significant retention of the metals occurred in D. rerio individuals, however, in a much lower extent than in the water to zooplankton stage. Our study suggests that Fe and Mn significantly accumulate in the lower part of the trophic chain and retention is effective through the digestive track of zebrafish, yet no biomagnification occurs. Graphical abstract