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| Author(s): |
Silvana Gomes Leite Siqueira
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia |
| Defense date: | 2012-02-28 |
| Examining board members: |
Fosca Pedini Pereira Leite;
Cristiana Silveira Serejo;
Denis Moledo de Souza Abessa;
Ronaldo Adriano Christofoletti;
Antonia Cecília Zacagnini Amaral
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| Advisor: | Fosca Pedini Pereira Leite; Giuliano Buzá Jacobucci |
| Abstract | |
The monitoring of marine environments can be made by evaluation of pollutant presence in organisms that are able to accumulate these substances. Thus, this study evaluated the occurrence of oil-derived hydrocarbons in the brown algae Sargassum furcatum and in its associated amphitoid amphipods found on rocky shores of the São Sebastião Channel, which is exposed to pollution by oil due to the operations of the Duct and Center Southern Terminal (DTCS) and domestic sewage. The species of amphitoid that occurred associated to S. furcatum were identified, and time and spatial variation of the composition of this community were also studied. The relationship between the hydrocarbons present in S. furcatum and the density and populational stucture of Cymadusa filosa, the most representative species of amphitoid in the area, was also investigated. Additionally a study on the reproductive behavior of C. filosa was conducted and its use as a bioindicator of water quality was evaluated through high toxicity test of short duration. The analysed material was obtained from 7 samples taken from march 2007 to november 2008 on 7 rocky shores. The oil-derived aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were quantified both in the algae and in the amphipods. Such compounds varied in concentration between the months of sampling. The algae possibly reflected the hydrocarbon concentrations present in the water while the amphipods may have assimilated hydrocarbons by direct contact or through the trophic chain. Six species of amphipods from the Ampithoidae family were identified: Ampithoe sp., A. divisura, A. marcuzzi, A. ramondi, C. filosa and Sunampithoe pelagica which presented significant differences in occurrence, density and temporal variation. The population of C. filosa in general was dominated by young individuals, possibly due to the high fecundity of the females, and there was a deviation of the sexual ratio favoring the females, related to the male?s differential behavior or due to its higher sensibility to hydrocarbons in the algae. Both aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons influenced the density and size structure of the different stages of development of C. filosa. Agonistic interactions between male and female C. filosa were observed, formation of share tubes and feeding of the offspring still in the pouch by the female, characterizing parental care by this species. It was also verified that the egg incubation period was short and sexual maturity occurred between six and seven weeks. The results of high toxicity suggest that C. filosa has potential for use in experiments of marine ecotoxicology due to its high sensibility to copper and naphthalene, however, additional studies with other xenonbiotics are necessary to confirm these results and to validate the use of this species in marine environments monitoring (AU) | |