Use of pufferfish, Takifugu niphobles, for early-life stage toxicity test as a marine fish model

Abstract

The present study tested the early life stage toxicity of 3,5-dichlorophenol (3,5-DCP) on grass puffer, Takifugu niphobles, in order to evaluate its potential use as a marine fish model. The pufferfish embryos at 1-day post fertilization (dpf) were exposed to serially diluted 3,5-DCP at 20°C or 25°C until 14- or 10-dpf, respectively. Exposure to 3,5-DCP caused inhibition of pigmentation, of swimming, and of yolk absorption. The EC₅₀ of morphological abnormality and the LC₅₀ at the end of test were 0.97 and 1.4 mg/L at 25°C. The EC₅₀ and LC₅₀ values estimated at 20°C (0.75 and 0.79 mg/L, respectively) were generally similar to those at 25°C. The sensitivity to 3,5-DCP in the grass puffer was equivalent to those observed in other marine fish species. Because of the ease of handling and observation of embryos, and the high hatching and survival rates, we consider the grass puffer to be an ideal model for early-life stage toxicity testing.