The widespread used antiparasitic Ivermectin disrupts swimming behavior on the freshwater fish Prochilodus lineatus (Teleostei, Characiformes)

LOZANO, I.; PIAZZA, YANINA; DE LA TORRE, FERNANDO; LO NOSTRO, FABIANA

Waco

Encuentro; 9thYoung Environmental ScientistsMeeting; 2020

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Ivermectin (IVM) is an antiparasitic drug widely usedto treat parasites of humans, livestock, and fish. IVM is excreted unchanged(90 %) in dung of treated animals. Residues may affect nontarget organismsliving in water bodies close to dung depositions areas. Laboratory toxicitytests provide inexpensive and accurate methods for assessing a chemical?spotential to affect fish behavior; however endpoints related with locomotoractivity have not been previously analyzed. We analyze the swimming behavior onthe Argentinian native fish Prochilodus lineatus exposed to sublethalconcentrations of IVM. Water renewal and IVM stability time were evaluated byHPLC-UV. Four treatments were tested: control (C), vehicle (Cv), 0.5 µg / L(IVM 1) and 1.5 µg / L (IVM 2), both environmental relevant concentrations. Atthe end of the exposure, using Ethovision XT14 and Tracker 5.04 software, eachaquarium was video-recorded during 10 minutes assessing: routine swimmingspeed, total distance traveled, % of movement, water column use and burstswimming. In a tablet pc-mounted in a side of the aquarium, a black ovalanimation simulating a frontal silhouette of an attacking predator wasprojected to trigger the escape response. The escape motion for the burstswimming was recorded at 400 fps in order to determine the acceleration andspeed during evasion. Results were evaluated using one way ANOVA and principalcomponent analysis. Routine swimming, total distance and burst swimming showedsignificant decrease (IVM 2). IVM impairs swimming activity and displacementthat might have direct effects on fitness and consequences at population level.