Monocorophium insidiosum (Crustacea, Amphipoda) as a candidate test species in sediment toxicity test

Toxicity test organisms must be sensitive to contaminants and tolerant to natural environmental factors. In a preliminary assessment of its potential as a sediment toxicity test species, we tested the amphipod, Monocorophium insidiosum, for its sensitivity to salinity, temperature, sediment particle sizes, cadmium, copper, and mercury in aqueous solution. M. insidiosum is ecologically relevant in Mar Piccolo of Taranto, tolerant to a broad spectrum of sediment types and survival in the laboratory tests was high (¡Ý 90%) at 36 ¡ë and at any temperature tested (10-15-18 and 20¡ãC). Ninety-six hour LC50 values for aqueous cadmium, copper and mercury at a 36 ¡ë salinity were 1.68, 5.74, and 0.07 mg/L, respectively. Our results suggest that under certain environmental conditions M. insidiosum may be a good candidate toxicity test species, but further research is needed to determine its sensitivity to other contaminants.