Meeting Abstract

P2-31   -   Does atrazine exposure affect molting and ecdysone levels in crayfish? Chammout, DH*; Saleem, S; Hadeed, MN; Castiglione, CL; Crile, KG; Belanger, RM; University of Detroit Mercy; University of Detroit Mercy; University of Detroit Mercy; University of Detroit Mercy; University of Detroit Mercy; University of Detroit Mercy chammodh@udmercy.edu

Exposure to the herbicide atrazine is known to have many different effects on non-target species, such as crayfish. These include changes in chemosensory responses to odorants, changes in locomotor behavior and DNA damage and morphological changes in cells of the antennules and hepatopancreas. Further, changes in weight gain and muscle protein content have also been noted. To determine if environmentally relevant atrazine exposures cause changes in both molting and molting hormone (ecdysone) levels, we exposed crayfish to 80 ppb atrazine for 10 days. We found that the crayfish that were exposed to atrazine molted more (63.3%) than unexposed/control crayfish (45%). Hemolymph was also collected and examined for changes in the molting hormone ecdysone using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Because molting is an energetic process, increases in molting frequency may lead to changes in survivorship and may also make crayfish more vulnerable to predation, ultimately affecting population size.