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Interactive effects of pesticide exposure and habitat structure on behavior and predation of a marine larval fish

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Abstract

Coastal development has generated multiple stressors in marine and estuarine ecosystems, including habitat degradation and pollutant exposure, but the effects of these stressors on the ecology of fishes remain poorly understood. We studied the separate and combined effects of an acute 4 h sublethal exposure of the pyrethroid pesticide esfenvalerate and structural habitat complexity on behavior and predation risk of larval topsmelt (Atherinops affinis). Larvae were exposed to four nominal esfenvalerate concentrations (control, 0.12, 0.59, 1.18 μg/L), before placement into 12 L mesocosms with a three-spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) predator. Five treatments of artificial eelgrass included a (1) uniform and (2) patchy distribution of eelgrass at a low density (500 shoots per m2), a (3) uniform and (4) patchy distribution of eelgrass at a high density (1,000 shoots per m2), and (5) the absence of eelgrass. The capture success of predators and aggregative behavior of prey were observed in each mesocosm for 10 min of each trial, and mortality of prey was recorded after 60 min. Exposure to esfenvalerate increased the proportion of larvae with swimming abnormalities. Surprisingly, prey mortality did not increase linearly with pesticide exposure but increased with habitat structure (density of eelgrass), which may have been a consequence of compensating predator behavior. The degree of prey aggregation decreased with both habitat structure and pesticide exposure, suggesting that anti-predator behaviors by prey may have been hampered by the interactive effects of both of these factors.

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Acknowledgments

We thank S. Wheeler, J. Wolfe, and S. Brander for assistance with predation trials and observations. Staff at the Bodega Marine Laboratory provided invaluable assistance and supplies for the design of this project. M. Edwards and R. Clark provided thoughtful suggestions and input on the analysis of this project. K. Smalling at the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the analytical chemistry for esfenvalerate in water samples. Support was provided by the Department of Biology at SDSU and the Bodega Marine Laboratory at UCD. Funding to V. Renick was provided by the Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology at San Diego State University, the SDSU Graduate Student Travel Fund, and the University of California, Davis.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Coastal and Marine Institute, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA

    Violet Compton Renick & Todd W. Anderson

  2. Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California Davis, P.O. Box 247, 2099 Westside Rd., Bodega Bay, CA, 94923, USA

    Violet Compton Renick, Steven G. Morgan & Gary N. Cherr

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  1. Violet Compton Renick
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Correspondence to Violet Compton Renick.

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Renick, V.C., Anderson, T.W., Morgan, S.G. et al. Interactive effects of pesticide exposure and habitat structure on behavior and predation of a marine larval fish. Ecotoxicology 24, 391–400 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1388-2

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