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Sensitivity of newly transformed juveniles of the freshwater pearl mussel: Margaritifera margaritifera to acute toxicity of a wide range of contaminants

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Abstract

The freshwater pearl mussel (FWPM) Margaritifera margaritifera is a bivalve mollusk critically endangered in Europe. There is a special concern about the conservation of this species, but little is known about its sensitivity to environmental pollution. Here, acute toxicity tests were conducted at 16°C according to a standard guide for conducting toxicity tests on freshwater mussels (ASTM international E2455), in order to assess toxicity thresholds for arsenic (As), aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), nitrates (NO3−), and orthophosphates (PO43−) on newly transformed juveniles of M. margaritifera. The comparison with toxicity data for other newly transformed freshwater mussel juveniles from the same family and superfamily, Margaritiferidae and Unionidae, showed that FWPM juveniles were the most sensitive species to NO3−, among the most sensitive species to Ni, the least sensitive species to Cd, and showed an intermediate sensitivity to Cu compared to other freshwater mussels. This study is the first to provide toxicity thresholds for several pollutants on newly transformed juveniles of the FWPM. This brings new knowledge on its sensitivity to environmental pollution that could be helpful data for conservation strategies and these findings represent the first window for further complex studies.

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Data availability

The data sets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to their large quantity. However, the data are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the aquatic toxicology team of Talence (University of Bordeaux, TALENCE, FRANCE) for the welcome in their laboratory, which allowed us to conduct our experiments. We also thank A. Racher and F. Lalanne for providing juvenile mussels for testing. We would like to thank the Perigord-Limousin Regional Natural Park, which also coordinated the project.

Funding

This work was supported by the LIFE13-NAT_FR_000506 program, funded by the European Community, the Agence de l’Eau Adour Garonne, the Novel Aquitaine Region, the Dordogne Department, the French government, and the Initiative Biosphere Dordogne.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Bordeaux, CNRS, EPOC, EPHE, UMR 5805, 33600, Pessac, France

    Tiare Belamy, Magalie Baudrimont, Marie-Ange Cordier, Émilie Dassie, Pierre-Yves Gourves & Alexia Legeay

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  1. Tiare Belamy
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  2. Magalie Baudrimont
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  3. Marie-Ange Cordier
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Correspondence to Alexia Legeay.

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In this study, Margaritifera margaritifera juveniles were provided by Firbeix facility farm. Since in France, no ethical permits are required to carry out research on bivalves, experiments were conducted according to the ethical guidelines of France to ensure ethical appropriateness.

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Belamy, T., Baudrimont, M., Cordier, MA. et al. Sensitivity of newly transformed juveniles of the freshwater pearl mussel: Margaritifera margaritifera to acute toxicity of a wide range of contaminants. Hydrobiologia 849, 2029–2041 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-04827-7

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