Identifying suitable invertebrate species from a unique habitat for ecotoxicological testing

In this study a variety of Australian rocky shore species were used to identify a suitable species for future ecotoxicological testing. Static-renewal experiments were conducted to determine the sensitivity of several rocky shore species exposed to a range of copper concentrations for 96 hours. The copper 96-h LC50 values for the flatworm, Phrikoceros baibaiye, ranged from 14 to 17 μg/L. The larvae of this flatworm showed phototactic responses, which may be suitable for sub lethal studies in the future. The shrimp, Alope orientalis, also had low 96-h LC50 values for copper from 54 to 128 μg/L. The sea anemone, Actinia sp., was relatively tolerant to copper with LC50 values ranging from 182 to 347 μg/L. Austrocochlea constricta was unsuitable for toxicity tests as it moved out of the water in the test containers for long periods of time. No one species meets all the criteria of an ideal test species, however, further work is warranted on three of the species