I United States Office of Water E^SOS 3-39-COIa Environmental Protection (EN-336) Feooiary 1989 Agency Ceriodaphnia Survival and Reproduction Toxicity Tests Supplemental Report for ||H| Video Training Tape % ------- SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT FOR VIDEO TRAINING TAPE ON CERIODAPHNIA SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION TOXICITY TESTS Lynn Bowler Technical Resources, Inc. 3202 Tower Oaks Blvd. Rockville. MD 20852 Laura Phillips U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water Enforcement and Permits Permits Division 401 M Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20460 Teresa Norberg-King U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Research Laboratory - Duluth 6201 Congdon Blvd. Duluth, MN 55804 EPA Contract No. 68-03-3305 1988 ------- CERIODAPHNIA SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION TOXICITY TEST TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I BACKGROUND 1 TEST METHOD . 2 OTHER PROCEDURAL CONSIDERATIONS 9 REFERENCES 13 GLOSSARY 14 APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT APPENDIX A REAGENTS AND CONSUMABLE MATERIALS. . . APPENDIX B FOOD PREPARATION APPENDIX C RECOMMENDED TEST CONDITIONS FOR CERIODAPHNIA SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION TEST APPENDIX D DIAGRAM OF CERIODAPHNIA APPENDIX E ------- FOREWORD The material presented in the video tape and this report is based on the document Short-term Methods for Estimating the Chronic Toxicity of Effluents and Receiving Waters to Freshwater Organisms. Some of the test conditions, parameters, and methods of this manual are in the process of being revised were not published at the time of the completion of this project. The methods presented here represent the latest accepted revisions. This report has been funded wholly or in part by the Environmental Protection Agency under contract 68-03-3305 to Technical Resources, Inc. It has been subject to the Agency's review, and it has been approved for distribution as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. ------- INTRODUCTION This report accompanies the Environmental Protection Agency's video training tape for conduc- ting Ceriodaphnia seven-day survival and reproduction toxicity tests. The test method is found in Short-term Methods for Estimating the Chronic Toxicity of Effluents and Receiving Waters to Fre1-.'.water Organisms and is adapted from methods developed by Dr. Donald Mount and Teresa Norberg-King of EPA's Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, Minnesota. The material presented in both the tape and this report summarizes the methods but does not replace a thorough review and understanding of the methods by laboratory personnel before conducting the test. BACKGROUND Clean Water Act, Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Section 402 (NPDES) program, EPA uses toxicity tests to monitor and evaluate effluents for their toxicity to biota and their impact on receiving waters. By determining acceptable or safe concentrations for toxicants discharged into receiving waters, EPA can establish NPDES permit limitations for toxicity. These permit limitations control pollutant discharges on a whole effluent toxicity basis rather than by a chemical specific approach. The Ceriodaphnia short-term chronic test estimates the toxicity of an effluent by exposing groups of test organisms to different concentrations of an effluent for seven days. The test results are based on survival and reproduction of the organisms 1 ------- The test method requires a static renewal exposure system. Every 24 hours the Ceriodaphnia are moved to a new test cups, containing a freshly prepared solution of the appropriate effluent concentration. Cultures produce Brood animals that produce Test animals. 5 effluent concentrations + 1 control = 6 concentrations x 10 replicates = 60 replicates x 1 brood animal/replicate = 60 brood animals using static renewal system. This report covers the general procedures used for conducting seven-day Ceriodaphnia toxicity tests. It describes how the test is set up, started, monitored, renewed, and terminated, followed by suggestions on maintaining healthy test organisms. TEST METHOD The first step is to set up Ceriodaphnia cultures to produce the young, or neonates, for the test. Cultures must be started at least two weeks before brood animals are needed, and their survival records should be maintained. In order to obtain a sufficient number of test animals that are less than 24 hours old and within 12 hours of each other, it is advisable to have one brood animal for each replicate that will be used in the test. For example, a test with 5 concentrations and a control, with 10 replicates for each concentration, will need 60 brood animals. Four days prior to starting a test, place each of the 60 brood animals in a separate 30 ml beaker or plastic cup containing 15 ml of culture media. The brood animals chosen should be at least seven days old and producing their third brood. Feed the 2 ------- animals daily and renew the culture media every other day. The test requires 2 to 24 hour old test animals, or neonates. They must be born within 12 hours of each other and originate from the same in-house culture. Neonates that are born within 2 or 4 hours of each other are even more desirable. Testing Animal Preparation On the day of the test startup, remove any young from the beakers or transfer the brood animals to new beakers early in the morning. Collect the young born in the first two to four hours, and every two to four hours thereafter, recording their ages as they are collected. Once enough test animals are obtained, they can be pooled and set aside. These can easily be held until the end of the day to start the test. If a brood animal is not producing 3 broods in 7 days, with 8 to 14 young in the third brood, it may have been overcrowded, underfed, or stressed in some way. Section 8 of the Chronic Methods Manual covers sample collection. Note that surface waters must be filtered (80 um plankton net) for Ceriodaphnia tests. Effluent sampling should be conducted according to the methods manual. The test should be started on the arrival date of the sample and within 72 hours of sample collection. Warm the effluent to 25 + 1°C slowly to avoid exceeding the desired temperature. Maintain this temperature throughout the seven-day test period. Once the effluent and the dilution water have reached the desired temperature, the dilutions can be prepared. Unless otherwise specified, use five exposure concentrations and a control for each test, with ten animals per concentration and 15 ml of medium per replicate. ------- Routine Chemistries It is recommended that the temperature be recorded continuously during the test. Once the test concentrations are prepared, set aside an aliquot of each for the routine chemistries that must be performed. This allows for the chemistries to be performed without contaminating the actual test solutions with the probes. For test initiation and renewals, measure and record the dissolved oxygen at the beginning of each 24 hour renewal in each test concentration. This is to ensure that the dilutions are not supersaturated or below 40% saturation. If they are, they should be aerated gently for a short period of time. Dissolved oxygen measurements should also be performed at the end of each 24 hour exposure period for one replicate in each concentration and the control. Also, the temperature, pH, and conductivity must be measured and recorded at the beginning of each exposure period. Temperature and pH must also be measured and recorded at the end of each period. Alkalinity and hardness are measured and recorded in the control and highest concentration only at the beginning and end of each 24 hour renewal period. See Table 1. Once prepared, the solutions are poured into test cups starting with the control and continuing to move up in concentration. The exposure begins by randomly placing one neonate into each test beaker. Using a glass dropper or pipette, remove a neonate from the brood cup in a small amount of water and release the animal under the surface of the water in the test cup. 4 ------- Table 1. Monitoring Schedule Parameter Monitorine Freauencv Beginning of End of 24-hr exposure 24-hr exposure Dissolved Oxygen X X> Temperature X X PH X X Conductivity X Alkalinity^ X X Hardness^ X X 1 End measurement on one replicate in each concentration and the control. - Measure in highest concentration and control only. ------- Replicates should be randomly placed in their test position and covered to prevent evaporation as well as contamination from the laboratory environment. Glass is recommended for the covers, as plexiglass warps with moisture. The test trays are then placed in a temperature and photoperiod controlled room. Another method for conducting the test is by using a randomized block design of treatment. This is done by randomly selecting 10 females with more than 8 young each. The neonates from each female are then assigned to one replicate of each effluent concentration. This way, each replicate of all of the concentrations is conducted with a neonate from a different brood animal. This procedure allows for tracking the •performance of the young from each female. If a female produces one weak offspring, or male, the likelihood of producing all weak or all male offspring is greater. Therefore, by using this known parentage technique, poor animal performance can be omitted from all concentrations for one female's young. When using the randomized block designed, test chambers are randomized once at the beginning of the test. If the concentrations are arranged according to rows, the position must randomized daily. 6 ------- Feeding The test animals are to be fed the same diet that the cultures are fed. At the time of the daily effluent renewal, 0.1 ml of a YCT food mixture and 0.1 ml of algae are added to each 15 ml of See Appendix C -- Food test medium. The YCT food mixture is made of yeast, Cerophyll, Preparation and trout chow. The algae used is Selenastrum capricornutum. In the 15 ml test volume, the number of algae cells should be approximately 230,000 cells per ml, and the suspended solids level of the food mixture should be about 12 to 13 mg/1. The test is conducted at a daily temperature control of 25 + PC due to possible effects of temperature on reproduction. The photoperiod should be controlled at 16 hours light to 8 hours dark. Also, the light intensity and quality should be at a minimum of>standard ambient laboratory conditions. Once the test is initiated, the renewals are performed in the same manner on days two through six. To do the daily renewals, prepare the test solutions, distribute the solutions to clean beakers or cups, and add the food. Test animals are then transferred with a glass dropper or pipette, releasing the animal under the surface of the water. As young may be present on day three, exercise care to transfer only the adult and not the young and do not to throw away the test cups until the young have been counted. If a test animal is injured or killed during the renewal process, it should be discarded and recorded. By killing one animal, you have reduced the initial number of test organisms for that treatment by one. 7 ------- Record Ceriodaphnia survival and reproduction observations daily. You can expect to obtain three broods from the control animals during the seven day test period, given that the control water is reliable water. The first brood is usually released on day three or four, the second brood on day five, and the last brood on day six or seven. When counting the young, organisms are observed more readily if viewed with a black background or a low power dissecting microscope. When using a microscope, a IS ml water volume in the beaker or plastic cup allows viewing of the entire water column without adjustments of the microscope. Using a bottom light source can also be helpful. In the absence of toxicants, adults typically will produce an average of 15 to 35 vounp in 7 days. Some effluents or toxicants may cause the young to develop in the brood pouch but not be released or they may cause the young to be aborted. Since the Ceriodaphnia develop rapidly, it is important to terminate this test and make observations within ± 2 hours of 7 days from initiation of the exposure. For the test to be considered acceptable, the control animals should produce an average of 15 young per surviving female and have a survival rate of at least 80% or better. 8 ------- Data Analysis izta analysis procedures are presented in the appendices of the Chronic Methods Manual. At the end of the test, the data are analyzed for reduced young production and survival. Because this test utilizes reproductive success as a measure of sublethal toxicity, variance analyses may be used to calculate the effect level. The LC50 may be calculated for the 24 and 48 hour periods if mortality occurred during these time periods. The statistical analysis of the test results should be conducted according to the test manual. OTHER PROCEDURAL CONSIDERATIONS Food Preparation Trout Chow No. 1 trout food pellets 'U.S. FWS Specification Diet SD9-30). Available from Ziegler Bros., Inc., P.O. Box 95, Gardners, PA 17324; Glencoe Mills, Glencoe, MN 55416; or Murray Elevators, 118 West 4800 South, Murray, Utah. In addition to strict adherence to the test protocol, there are other factors that influence test results. The first is food preparation (See Appendix C -- Food Preparation). It is important that the yeast-Cerophyll®-trout chow mixture (YCT) is similar in composition from week to week. To prepare the food, follow the general guidelines in the chronic manual. The trout chow is prepared first. At the Environmental Research Lab in Duluth, a 1 gallon Nalgene® container is cut off and inverted. Then, 5 grams of the 1/8" trout chow pellets are added to 1 liter of distilled water. Filtered air is then applied through the narrow opening of the bottle, and bubbled rapidly. This fermentation is continued for one week, during which time care is taken to replace any appreciable water loss, and not to allow any settling of particulates. Once the trout chow has fermented, the supernatant is filtered through a Nytex® #110 mesh to remove the larger particulates. Aliquots of this food are used fresh or stored in the freezer for later use. 9 ------- Cerophvll is available from Ward's Natural Science Establishment, P.O. Box 92912, Rochester, NY 14692. Cereal leaves from Sigma Chemical Co., (P.O. Box 14508, St. Louis, MO 6."T 78) have been used successfully in place of Cerophyll®. Yeast Dry yeast such as Fleischmann's® or St. Regis® is used. Aleae The Cerophyll® of the YCT should be made up only 24 hours in advance. Put the Cerophyll® in the same diluent water as was used for the trout chow fermentation and stir on a stir plate for 24 hours at a moderate rate. Decant and filter the Cerophyll® through a Nytex® screen. Cerophyll® is a powder of dehydrated cereal of grass leaves with Vitamin A, B2, C, and K. The yeast for the YCT is mixed in the same diluent water as the other food items. It should be made up on the same day that all of the components are put together. Mix, shake, or stir the yeast and add it to the other components while in suspension. After all three components are ready, mix equal volumes together and shake well. Measuring and adjusting suspended solids in the YCT can help insure that the food level is similar from batch to batch. For culturing the algae, the Selenastrum media from the chronic manual is recommended. Again, the cell count of the algae must be monitored with each batch by using a Coulter Counter, a hemacytometer, or by measuring the optical density. The algae cells should be monitored occasionally to be sure that the culture 10 ------- is not contaminated with any other types of algae. Store both foods in the refrigerator for no more than two weeks. Culturing the test organisms is another factor that is important for testing. Low production during the seven-day test may be due to factors other than toxicity. One factor may be unfamiliarity of laboratory personnel with culturing techniques. Another may be that the brood animals were not adequate for producing test animals. To avoid these problems, a great deal of effort should be put into culturing. One consideration is to be sure that the cultures are not overcrowded. If mass cultures are used to produce test animals, it is highly likely that the animals were subjected to stress due to underfeeding or overcrowding. To minimize stress, maintain cultures with no more than 40 females per liter of water. Although mass cultures may appear healthy, overcrowded females often produce fewer young than is expected when used in a test. Generally, it takes an adult more than four days to overcome these stresses. It is also important that cultures are fed daily and that the mass cultures are routinely changed, for example, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or the animals will quickly become overcrowded. A general guideline that should be followed is to put as much effort into culturing as into testing. The success of the test relies on good culturing techniques. 11 ------- Diluent Water Another factor that is important to the success of the test is the choice of water to use as the diluent. Not all surface water is reliable for culturing. It is important to establish what the young production and survival rates are for each water that is used, before initiating a test. Maintaining survival records on the brood animals is helpful. To determine how well a culture performs, count young production for seven days each month for ten animals in the culture For artificially reconstituted waters, it is very important to start with a "high purity" distilled and deionized water. This may mean installing a high grade filtering system and installing the filters in the following order o ion exchange, o carbon filter; o organix-Q®; and o fine filter. Also avoid storing water for more than one month. Finally, if an adult does not produce young during the test, it should be put on a slide and its sex determined. This is relatively easy and is to be performed according to the guidelines in the chronic manual. 12 ------- REFERENCES Short-term Methods for Estimating the Chronic Toxicity of Effluents and Receiving Waters to Freshwater Organisms. USEPA Office of Research and Development. December 1985. EPA/600/4-85-014. Technical Support Document for Water Quality-based Toxics Control. USEPA Office of Water. September 1985. EPA/440/4-85-032. Methods for Measuring the Acute Toxicity of Effluents to Freshwater and Marine Organisms. USEPA Office of Research and Development. March 1985. EPA/660/4-85-013. 13 ------- GLOSSARY Acute toxicity. An adverse effect measured in a short period of time (96 hours or less in toxicity tests). The effect can be measured in lethality or any variety of effects. Algae. The algae used is Selenastrum capricomutum. Ceriodaphnia. Ceriodaphnia dubia are used for this test method. Cerophyll®. A powder of dehydrated cereal of grass leaves used in the food mixture. Chronic toxicity. An adverse effect that occurs over a long exposure period. The effect can be lethality, impaired growth, reduced reproduction, etc. Diluent water. Dilution water used to prepare the effluent concentrations. Effluent concentrations. Concentrations or dilutions of an effluent to which fathead minnows are exposed to determine the effects of the sample. Effluent sample. A representative collection of the discharge that is to be tested. LC50. The toxicant concentration killing 50% of the exposed organisms at a specific time of observation. Neonate. Newly released Ceriodaphnia (less than 24 hours old) are used for this test. Static renewal. The exposure medium is replaced each day by moving the test animal to a new test cup prepared with the proper effluent concentration. Toxicity test. A measure of the toxicity of a chemical or effluent using living organisms. The test measures the degree of response of an exposed organism to a specific chemical or effluent. Trout chow. No. 1 Trout Food pellets. U.S. FWS Specification Diet SD9-30. Whole effluent toxicity. The aggregate toxic effect of an effluent measured directly with a toxicity test. Yeast. The yeast used is common dry yeast such as Fleischmann's® or St. Regis®. 14 ------- APPENDIX A APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT Samplers -- Automatic sampler, preferably with sample cooling capability, capable of collecting a 24-h composite sample of 1 L. Sample containers - for sample shipment and storage. Environmental chamber, incubator, or equivalent facility with temperature control (25+ 1#C). Water purification system -- Millipore Super-Q or equivalent. Balance -- Analytical, capable of accurately weighing 0.0001 g. Reference weights, Class S -- for checking performance of balance. Racks for test vessels -- Racks approximately 8 cm x 40 cm, drilled to hold 10 test vessels for each concentration. Dissecting microscope — for examining organisms in the test chambers. Light box — for illuminating organisms during examination. Volumetric flasks and graduated cylinders -- Class A, borosilicate glass or non- toxic plastic labware, 10-1000 ml, for culture work and preparation of test solutions. Volumetric pipets -- Class A, 1-100 ml. Serological pipets -- 1-10 ml, graduated. Pipets bulbs and fillers — Propipet®, or equivalent. Disposable polyethylene pipets, droppers, and glass tubing with fire-polished edges, 2-mm ID -- for transferring organisms. Wash bottles — for rinsing small glassware and instrument electrodes and probes. Glass or electronic thermometers -- for measuring water temperatures. Bulb-thermograph or electronic-chart type thermometers -- for continuously recording temperature. National Bureau of Standards Certified thermometer — see EPA Method 170.1, USEPA 1979b. pH, DO, and specific conductivity meters — for routine physical and chemical measurements. Unless the test is being conducted to specifically measure the effect of one of the above parameters, a portable, field-grade instrument is acceptable. ------- APPENDIX B REAGENTS AND CONSUMABLE MATERIALS Reagent water -- defined as activated-carbon-filtered distilled or deionized water which does not contain substances which are toxic to the test organisms. A water purification system may be used to generate reagent water. Effluent, surface water, and dilution water -- Dilution water that contains undesirable organisms, that may attack the test organisms should be filtered through a fine mesh net (80-um or smaller openings). Reagents for hardness and alkalinity tests (see EPA Methods 130.2 and 310.1, USEPA 1979b). pH buffers 7, and 10 (or as per instructions of instrument manufacturer) for standards and calibration check (see USEPA Method 150.1, USEPA 1979b). Membranes and filling solutions for dissolved oxygen probe (see USEPA Method 360.1, USEPA 1979b), or reagents for modified Winkler analysis. Laboratory quality assurance samples and standards for the above methods. Specific conductivity standards (see EPA Method 120.1, USEPA 1979b). Reference toxicant solutions. Test Vessels -- 30-mL borosilicate glass beakers or disposable plastic salad dressing cups (manufactured by Anchor-Hocking Plastic Division, and supplied by Plastics Inc., 224 Ryan Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55164) are recommended because they will fit in the viewing field of most stereoscopic microscopes. Rinse thoroughly in distilled water and then in dilution water before use. A volume of 15 ml of test solution is adequate for the organisms, and will provide a depth in which it is possible to count the animals with a minimum of re-focusing. Ten test vessels are used for each effluent concentration and for the control. Test Organisms -- Neonate Ceriodaphnia dubia 0-6 hours old of each other and less than 24 hours old at the initiation of the test. The Ceriodaphnia cultures should be started at least two weeks before the brood animals are needed, to provide an adequate supply of neonates for the test. Survival records on brood animals should be maintained. Only a few individuals are needed to start a culture, since they are prolific. Ceriodaphnia may be shipped or otherwise transported in polyethylene bottles. Forty animals in a 1 L bottle filled with culture medium and smaller amounts (3 ml) of the YCT diet is an acceptable way to transport. Organisms received from an outside source should be immediately checked for temperature, and transferred in water shipped into the laboratory culturing glassware or plasticware. Animals received from an outside source should be transferred to new culture media gradually, over a period of 1-2 days, to avoid mass mortality. Keep the temperature change to <3°C over a 24 hour period. ------- APPENDIX B CONTINUED It is best to start the culture from one animal, which is sacrificed after producing young, embedded, and retained as a permanent microscope slide mount to facilitate identification and permit future reference. The species identification of the stock culture should be verified by preparing slide mounts, regardless of the number of animals used to start the culture. See the Methods Manual for slide preparation procedures. Glass dishes, beakers, or plastic cups are recommended for use in culturing. For mass culture, use of crystallizing dishes, (190 x 100; 18.5 cm in diameter, 9.8 cm h) 1 L of water and 40 animals is recommended. Cultures are initiated with <24 h old Q,. dubia. Smaller volumes of water using the same ratio of water and animals is acceptable. Larger aquaria, i.e., 2 L, or 4 L, may be convenient, but is not recommended for brood animal culture. Maintain several cultures in separate vessels, (four or more) to provide additional cultures in case cultures are accidentally dropped or lost due to other problems, such as low DO or lack of feeding. The cultures are fed daily. For individual organism culture, use of 1 ounce plastic cups or 30 ml glass beakers with 15 ml of culture medium is recommended. One <24 hour old Q. dubia per 15 ml is used. The number of animals needed in brood boards is dependent on the number needed for tests. Typically, 60 animals of one group will produce enough young to start one and possibly two test on one day. Cultures should be changed three times a week, typically Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Two sets of animals should be maintained, i.e., one culture is started Friday, and the other culture started the previous Friday is 7-d old. The newest culture is started with neonates <24 h old from the 14-d old culture (which is then discarded). This same procedure is used for mass or individual cultures. Daily changes are acceptable but not necessary. ------- APPENDIX C FOOD AND ALGAE PREPARATION Feeding the proper amount of the right food is extremely important in Ceriodaphnia culturing and testing. The key is to provide sufficient nutrition to support normal reproduction without adding excess food. Excess food could clog the filtering apparatus of the organisms or greatly decrease the DO and subsequently cause decreased young production and possibly death of the animals. A suspension of yeast, Cerophyll®, and trout chow (YCT) along with the algae, Selenastrum capricornutum. will provide adequate nutrition when fed daily. The YCT is prepared from three ingredients as follows: Digested trout chow: 1. One week before use, add 5.0 g of No. 1 trout food pellets (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Specification Diet SD9-30) to 1 L of distilled or deionized water or water used in culturing. This trout chow may be obtained from Ziegler Bros., Inc., P.O. Box 95, Gardners, PA, 17324; Glencoe Mills, Glencoe, MN 55416; or Murray Elevators, 118 West 4800 South, Murray, Utah. Mix well in a blender and aerate continuously (digest) for one week at ambient laboratory temperature prior to use. Be sure to aerate from the bottom to prevent settling, and replace water lost to evaporation during fermentation. 2. After one week of digesting, place in a refrigerator and allo.w the mixture to settle. Decant the supernatant through a #110 Nytex® screen and combine with equal volumes of supernatant from the Cerophyll® and yeast preparations (below). The liquid can be frozen for use later. Cerophyll® (Powdered, Dried, Cereal Leaves)' : 1. One day prior to use, place 5.0 g of Cerophyll® powder in a flask. Add 500 ml of distilled, deionized water or water used for culturing. Mix at high speed for five minutes in a blender or stir with a magnetic stirrer at medium overnight. 2. If blended, store in refrigerator overnight. 3. Decant the supernatant through a #110 Nytex® screen and combine with equal volumes of supernant from trout chow (above) and yeast preparations (below). Discard any excess. Available from Sigma Chemical Company, P.O. Box 14508, St. Louis, Missouri, 63178 (800-325-3010). ------- APPENDIX C CONTINUED Yeast: 1. Add 2.5 g of dry yeast, such as Fleischmann's® or St. Regis®, to 500 ml of distilled water or deionized water, or water used for culturing. 2. Stir with a magnetic stirrer or shake until well dispersed or use a blender at low speed for 5 minutes. Do not allow to settle. 3. Combine immediately with equal volumes of supernatant from the trout chow and Cerophyll® preparations (above). Discard the remainder. Combined trout chow-yeast-Cerophyll® food: 1. Mix equal (300 ml) volumes of the three foods. 2. Measure suspended solids on each batch of YCT before feeding. Acceptable solids levels are between 1700 and 1900 mg/1. Record the date the food is prepared and the suspended solids concentration. 3. Place aliquots of the final mixture in small (50 ml to 100 ml) screw-cap plastic bottles and freeze until needed. 4. Fresh or thawed food is stored in the refrigerator between feedings, and is used for a maximum of one week. The quality of each batch of food prepared with a new supply of components should be determined by using the food in a 7-day reproduction test with control water. Synthetic, soft or moderately hard water (hardness of 40-48 or 80-100 mg/1 as CaCC>3) is recommended as a standard culture medium. Other culture water, such as well water, pond water, or dechlorinated tap water, also may be satisfactory. The Selenastrum is cultured as follows: 1. Cultures can be purchased from Starr Collection at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas or American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Maryland. Agar slants can be kept for several months in the dark at 4*C. 2. Algae are grown using aseptic techniques although controlled bacterial contamination does not appear to affect results. 3. Algal media can be prepared in large quantities using several different media. See the Chronic Methods Manual for details. Nutrient medium is sterilized prior to adding algae by autoclaving or filtering through 0.22 um membrane filter. ------- APPENDIX C CONTINUED 4. Inoculate media aseptically with 2-5 ml of concentrated inoculum (see below) or 30 ml of inoculum with optical density (O.D.) of 0.10-0.15 at 750 nm with 16.8 mm light path. Incubate cultures at 24 + 2°C and an average of 2500 lux of illumination at the surface of flasks. Cultures can be grown in Erlenmeyer flasks and magnetic .stirrers or separatory flasks with air. If stir plates are used air temperatures of 21 + PC will produce 24 + PC in culture. 5. Cultures mature in 6-8 days at 25°C with a 16 hour light:8 hour dark photoperiod. After cultures are very green this mixture can be concentrated immediately or stored in the refrigerator until later. New cultures can be started by adding 2-5 ml of the mature culture to sterile media. 6. Centrifuge mature algal cultures, pour off supernatant and resuspend the algal pellet with diluent water, i.e., water used for culturing and testing. Use only enough diluent to just break up pellet. Transfer all resuspended algae into flask. 7. Cell counts should be made using hemacytometers, coulter counters or with spectrophotometers. The final concentration for £. dubia is approximately 240,000 cells/ml. Therefore with more concentrated algae, less volume is added to test solutions. 8. Store algae in refrigerator. Shake vigorously before feeding. Algae prepared in this manner stays viable for several weeks. 9. Algae concentrated to 31 to 34x10** cells/ml should be used as stock. 10. Vitamins can also be added to culture on day 2 if desired. Add 10 ml to 1 L algal medium of the following: Vitamins mg/500 ml D-pantothenic (Henri Calcium Salt) Vitamin B-12 (Cyanocobalamin) Thiamine HC1 (Vitamin B-l) Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2) Niacinamide (Nicotinamide) d-Biotin (Vitamin H) Putrescine (Dihydrochloride) Myo-inositol Choline chloride 12.0 8.0 26.0 6.0 6.0 220.0 100.0 140.0 0.006 These solutions should be stored in the dark in the refrigerator. ------- APPENDIX D RECOMMENDED TEST CONDITIONS FOR CERIODAPHNIA SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION TEST 1. Test type 2. Temperature (°C): 3. Light quality: 4. Light intensity: 5. Photoperiod: 6. Test vessel size: 7. Test solution volume: 8. Renewal of test concentrations: 9. Age of test organisms: 10. Number of test organisms per chamber: 11. Number of replicate chambers per treatment 12. Feeding regime: 13. Aeration: 14. Dilution water 15. Test Solutions: Static renewal 25 ± 1°C Ambient laboratory illumination 10-20 uE/m^/s, or 50-100 ft-c (ambient laboratory levels) 16 h light, 8 h darkness 30 ml 15 ml Daily Less than 24 h; and all released within a 6-h period I 10 Feed 0.1 ml each of the yeast-Cerophyll®- trout chow food and the Seleastrum capricornutum suspension/15ml exposure chamber daily (algal suspension of 31,000,000- 34,000,000 cells/ml). None Milli-Q or equivalent water is used to make a standard moderately hard water, or diluted mineral water (i.e., 9 parts Milli-Q and 1 part Perrier® or equivalent). Aerate a minimum of 12 hours before use. Minimum of 5 effluent concentrations and a control. 16. Dilution factor Approximately 0.3 or 0.5 ------- APPENDIX D CONTINUED 17. Test duration: 18. Effects measured: 19. Test acceptability: 20. Sampling requirements: 7 days Survival and reproduction 80% or greater survival, and an average of >15 young/surviving female in the control solution. At least 60% of control females have produced their third brood. Minimum of three 24-h composite samples. For on-site tests, samples should be used within 24 h of the time they are removed from the sampling device. For off-site tests, samples should be used within 36 h of collection. 21. Minimum sample volume daily: 500 ml ------- APPENDIX E DIAGRAM OF CERIODAPHNIA 8 9 10 12 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. U. 15. 16. 17. .18. 19. 3 2 1 Ancennule with ancerior sense hair and terminal aesthetascs (fine Ocellus sensory hairs) r rons Supraocular depression Fornix Fenestra (headpore) Cervical notch Cardiac bulge (hearc shown as dotted line beneath) Ecdvsial line Exopod of antenna Endopod of antenna Brood chamber Abdominal appendage Abdominal seta Posterodorsal angle Postabdomen Anal denticles Postabdominal claw with a pecten Reticulations EPA. 1986. Taxonomy of Ceriodaphnia (Crustacea; Cladocera) in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Cultures. September, 1986. EPA/600/4-86/032. 34 pp. ------- |