Acute and chronic effects of sodium and potassium on the tropical freshwater cladoceran Pseudosida ramosa.

In this study, the toxicities of sodium and potassium to the tropical freshwater cladoceran Pseudosida ramosa were assessed. Acute toxicity tests on this species showed that the 48-h LC(50) of Na(+) was 556 mg l(-1), while that of K(+) was 17.7 mg l(-1). Long-term exposure of female P. ramosa to sodium reduced the total number of survivors from 10 to 6 at a concentration of 249 mg l(-1), 21-day fecundity from 20.4 to 14.3 eggs female(-1) at concentrations ranging from 72 to 249 mg l(-1), 21-day fertility from 20.1 to 6.5 neonates female(-1) at concentrations ranging from 25 to 249 mg l(-1). Furthermore, fecundity of each brood from the second to the fifth was significantly lower at 249 mg l(-1) and fertility of each brood from the first to the fifth at concentrations ranging from 25 to 249 mg l(-1). A significant decrease in fertility was associated with an increase in the number of aborted eggs. Long-term exposure to potassium decreased the 21-day fecundity of P. ramosa from 14.2 to 10.8 eggs female(-1) at a concentration of 11 mg l(-1) and fertility (fourth brood only) at 6.2 and 11 mg l(-1). Tropical reservoirs located near areas where the soil is overloaded with fertilizers and ferti-irrigation with vinasse already show concentrations of Na(+) and K(+) very close to those producing sub-lethal long-term effects on P. ramosa. A possible consequence is that organisms of the aquatic biota cannot adapt and freshwater taxa may become locally extinct, transferring dominance to salt-tolerant taxa.