Abstract
Chironomus sancticaroli is a tropical species, easy to grow and to maintain in laboratory cultures. It has a fast reproduction cycle, under adequate conditions, around 30 days, allowing it to have many generations per year, an important criterion for selecting a test organism in ecotoxicology. Its life stages include: eggs, four larval instars (one planktonic and three benthic), pupa and adult (midges) This study aimed to: (1) review the methods for C. sancticaroli cultivation and its use in ecotoxicological tests, (2) establish a laboratory culture of C. sancticaroli, presenting the difficulties and discussing the ways to overcome them. Early 4th instar larvae was the most used in acute studies, while the 1st instar larvae (early 1st instar) was the most used in chronic studies; 96 h and 28 days were the most frequent durations in acute and chronic studies, respectively. The most common endpoints evaluated were organisms’ survival and development, and most of the ecotoxicological studies using C. sancticaroli were performed in laboratory. Most of the tested contaminants were pesticides and these had the most adverse effects on organisms. Most mesocosms with environmental contaminated samples did not show adverse effects on C. sancticaroli. Chronic and field studies as well as those testing the effects of the mixture contaminants on C. sancticaroli were still deficient. Keeping the laboratory environment and equipment effectively sanitized was important as well as maintaining stabilized conditions of temperature, photoperiod, physical, chemical and biological water quality in cultures.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Center for Water Resources and Applied Ecology at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) for giving the C. sancticaroli organisms for its establishment in the Laboratory of Plankton Ecology in the Federal University of Juiz de Fora.
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This work was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) (fellowship to EMB).
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EMB, RFM, SJC, HL conceptualized the article, analyzed, and interpreted the data. EMB was responsible for writing the original draft. EMB, RFM, SJC, HL, CMRB, BCTD and ANRLL reviewed and edited the article. EMB made the figures. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Brovini, E.M., Lobo, H., Mendonça, R.F. et al. Chironomus sancticaroli (Diptera: Chironomidae) in ecotoxicology: laboratory cultures and tests. Ecotoxicology 32, 223–233 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-023-02631-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-023-02631-0