Meeting Abstract
46.1 Monday, Jan. 5 Effects of heavy metal pollution on fish feeding and escape performance DORSEY, J. P.*; GEORGE, M.; ANDERSON, S.; SWANSON, B. O.; Gonzaga University; Gonzaga University; Gonzaga University; Gonzaga University jdorsey@gonzaga.edu
Environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals, can target animal tissues and affect behavior. These behavioral changes can alter specific ecological relationships between the affected animal and organisms at other trophic levels. It has been shown that the interactions between bluegill sunfish and snails change dramatically in the presence of Cd, Zn, and Pb. Here we examine the effects of heavy metals in sunfish, and predict that Cd, Zn, and Pb should decrease performance in ecologically important, nervous system-dependent activities, such as escape responses and suction-feeding. We obtained two sets of pumpkinseed sunfish, the first from a relatively clean (reference) lake. Half of these fish were fed snails exposed to Cd, Zn, and Pb, while the other half were fed clean snails, for a total of fifteen days. The other set consisted of two groups, one from several polluted lakes, and another from reference lakes. Fast starts were recorded with a high-speed video camera and image sequences were digitized. Duration of each stage, along with maximum acceleration and velocity, were calculated. Feeding behavior was recorded with a high-speed video camera as well. Several landmarks were digitized in order to measure gape distance, hyoid depression, and maximum jaw protrusion. No statistical differences in performance were observed between the two groups of snail-fed fish. However, in almost all cases, fish from clean lakes demonstrated higher performancecompleted behaviors in less time with higher peak valuesthan did fish from polluted lakes. The differences in performance between fish in clean and polluted lakes suggest that long term or developmental exposure to heavy metals alters performance in ecologically significant behaviors, and may explain ecological changes in the presence of these pollutants.
