Sensitivity of early life stages of Pelophylax shqipericus to xenobiotics

BLERTA TURANI^1* AND VALBONA ALIKO²

¹University College “Qiriazi”; High Professional College; Food Technology, Tirana, Albania

²University of Tirana, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tirana, Albania

*Corresponding author e-mail: blertaturani@yahoo.com

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Abstract

The success of assisted reproduction technology applied in amphibians greatly depends on environmental factors. This study evaluated the sensitivity of Pelophylax shqipericus embryos to 0.05 and 0.1 mg/L copper exposure for 24h by assessing growth, hematological alterations and possible malformations. Susceptibility increased from fertilization to stage 40 Gosner, inwhich the 24h-LC100 were 0.058 mg/L, with an increased resistance observed from this stage onward. Malformations were observed at all developmental stages observed, with the most common being poor larval development and growth, incurved spinal cords and tails, reduced reaction to different stimuli, loss of equilibrium and shortening of swimming distance. Erythrocyte abnormalities like deformed cells and their nuclei, vacuolated erythrocytes and karryorhectic cells were the most hematological alterations evaluated for both concentrations 0.05 and 0.1 mg/L of copper (p<0.1). The high sensitivity of frog embryos to copper and probably to other xenobiotic, make them particularly vulnerable to environmental stress and importantly affect the reproductive success of species. Using frog embryos for acute toxicity tests can provide auseful information on several meaningful endpoints of amphibianreproduction and developmental process.

Keywords: Pelophylax shqipericus, embryos, reproduction success, developmental stages, sensitivity, copper.