Effect of the endocrine disrupter nonylphenol on the marine copepod Tisbe battagliai

The marine copepod Tisbe battagliai was exposed to the endocrine disrupter nonylphenol (31-500 mu g l(-1)) in two life-table experiments. Data on fecundity, longevity, and rate of development were used to calculate the population growth rate (r(m)) for exposed and unexposed cohorts of copepods. The highest concentrations tested (125 and 500 mu g l(-1) nonylphenol) were acutely lethal to the nauplii. When the copepods were exposed to 62 mu g l(-1) nonylphenol, only 6% survived to maturity. The surviving copepods, however, produced enough F1 and F2 offspring to increase the size of the population compared to the P-generation. There were no statistically significant effects on any life table parameter for T. battagliai at 31 mu g l(-1) nonylphenol, although r(m) was reduced in one of the experiments mainly due to reduced survival to maturity. There was no statistically significant change in the percentage of female in neither the P (parent) nor the F1 (offspring) generation exposed to 31 mu g l(-1) NP compared to the controls. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.