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Anatomical and Behavioral Assessment of Larval Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Reared in Anacostia River Water Samples

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Abstract

Rapid urbanization, industrial activity, and runoff have all played a role in transforming the Anacostia River from a biologically rich ecosystem to an ecologically threatened environment facing extensive pollution. In recent decades, numerous groups have worked to document and begin to address pollution in the waterway, but few have examined the biological impact of these contaminants. To assess water quality, the current study examined the effects of Anacostia water on early fish development and behavior using zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish embryos and larvae were reared in water samples collected from the Washington Navy Yard from 0–30dpf (days post fertilization). At 7, 15, 20, and 30dpf, larvae were subsampled for morphological (length, girth, eye diameter, inter-eye distance) and behavioral (angular velocity, total distance traveled, swimming velocity, total activity duration, time immobile, frequency and duration of burst swimming, time at the edge of the dish) assessment. Water samples were processed using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) to identify major organic contaminants. Results indicated the presence of 13 bioactive organic contaminants, including siloxane species and hormone derivatives, and accelerated growth and altered swim behaviors in Anacostia-exposed fish after 30 days of exposure. These findings emphasize sublethal but significant impacts of exposure to organic contaminants experienced by fish residing in urban waterways.

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Source: District of Columbia Office of Planning, 2013

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the USGS Water Resources Research Institute (2017DC189B) to VPC, an AU Faculty Mellon grant (VPC), Faculty Research Support Grant (VPC) a graduate student Mellon award (to RLW), and American University College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Support (RLW). The funding sources did not participate in research or preparation of the article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 20016, USA

    Rebecca L. Wilken & Victoria P. Connaughton

  2. Department of Environmental Science, American University, Washington, DC, 20016, USA

    Aikerim Imanalieva & Stephen MacAvoy

  3. Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC, 20016, USA

    Victoria P. Connaughton

Authors
  1. Rebecca L. Wilken
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  2. Aikerim Imanalieva
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  3. Stephen MacAvoy
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  4. Victoria P. Connaughton
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Contributions

RLW: participated in experimental design, performed experiments, data analysis, writing, and editing the manuscript; AI: assisted with water quality analysis, writing, and editing the manuscript; SEM: participated in experimental design, data analysis, writing and editing the manuscript; VPC: participated in experimental design, data analysis, writing and editing the manuscript. All authors have approved the final article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victoria P. Connaughton.

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Wilken, R.L., Imanalieva, A., MacAvoy, S. et al. Anatomical and Behavioral Assessment of Larval Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Reared in Anacostia River Water Samples. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 78, 525–535 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00707-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00707-0

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