W. Baturo et al., GROWTH, FECUNDITY AND GLYCOGEN UTILIZATION IN LYMNAEA-PALUSTRIS EXPOSED TO ATRAZINE AND HEXACHLOROBENZENE IN FRESH-WATER MESOCOSMS, Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 14(3), 1995, pp. 503-511
Freshwater mesocosms were used to study the long-term sublethal effect
s of atrazine and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) on a basommatophoran gastrop
od, Lymnaea palustris (Muller). Growth, fecundity, and biochemical par
ameters related to polysaccharide metabolism (glycogen content and pol
ysaccharide-hydrolyzing enzyme activity) of pesticide-exposed snails w
ere compared with those of control animals maintained in untreated mes
ocosms. HCB inhibited body growth and stimulated egg production, where
as atrazine had no relevant effect on these physiological parameters.
Also, HCB stimulated the activity of polysaccharide-hydrolyzing enzyme
s, suggesting that changes in the metabolism of reserve polysaccharide
s (glycogen) may be involved in the inhibition of growth and increase
of fecundity. In contrast, atrazine had no effect on the metabolism of
polysaccharides. It is concluded that the effects of HCB are related
to its neurotoxicity that would have affected the neurohormonal contro
l of growth and reproduction of exposed snails. It is suggested that p
olysaccharide-hydrolyzing enzymes may be used as biomarkers to predict
the effects of neurotoxic pesticides on freshwater snail populations.