Screening of Candidate Species for Development of Standard Operating Procedures for Aquatic Toxicity
- Published:
- March 1, 1994
- Originator:
- Chesapeake Bay Program
the goal of this study was to evaluate 25 resident Chesapeake Bay species (vertebrates, invertebrates and plants) as potential candidates for future Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) development for estuarine water column toxicity tests. Candidate species were considered for the following types of toxicity tests: effluent toxicity tests (species needed year round); ambient toxicity tests (species needed approximately once per season) and single chemical toxicity tests (species needed much less frequently than the above two types of tests). Candidate species for future SOP development were evaluated by using the following criteria: ecological significance toChesapeake Bay; feasibility of culturing and testing year round sensitivity to toxic chemicals. Each of the three criteria was assigned a ranking score of 5, 3 and 1 corresponding to high, medium, and low ranking, respecitively. Each species was assigned a total score and the species with the highest scores, with all pratical consideration included, were recommentd for future SOP development. Based on this ranking system, the two species recommended for future SOP development are the copepod, Eurytemora affini and the sago pondweed, Potamogeton pectinatus.