Pt. Raimondi et al., THE EFFECTS OF DRILLING MUDS ON MARINE INVERTEBRATE LARVAE AND ADULTS, Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 16(6), 1997, pp. 1218-1228
A series of laboratory experiments tested the effects of drilling muds
from an active platform off southern California an larvae and adults
of marine invertebrates. Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) were used to
determine effects of drilling muds on fertilization, early developmen
t, survivorship, and settlement, and experiments on adult brown cup co
rals (Paracyathus stearnsii) tested effects on adult survivorship, via
bility, and tissue loss. Exposures to drilling muds did not have an ef
fect on abalone fertilization or early development. However, several e
xposures to drilling muds resulted in weak, but significant, positive
effects of drilling muds on settlement of competent larvae. In contras
t, settlement of red abalone larvae on natural coralline algal crusts
decreased with increasing concentrations of drilling muds. This sugges
ts that drilling muds affect either the abalone's ability to detect na
tural settlement inducers, or they affect the inducer itself. Exposure
of brown cup corals to concentrations of drilling muds adversely impa
cted their survivorship and viability. These effects were likely cause
d by increased tissue mortality of the coral polyps.