Comparison of Short-Term Toxicity of 14 Common Phycotoxins (Alone and in Combination) To The Survival of Brine Shrimp Artemia Salina

Toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs) can cause deleterious effects in marine organisms, threatening the stability of marine ecosystems. It is well known that different strains, natural populations and growth conditions of the same toxic algal species may lead to different amount of phycotoxin production and the ensuing toxicity. To fully assess the ecological risk of toxic HABs, it is of great importance to investigate the toxic effects of phycotoxins in marine organisms. In this study, the short-term toxicity of 14 common phycotoxins (alone and in combination) in the marine zooplankton Artemia salina was investigated. On the basis of 48 h LC 50 , the order of toxicity in A. salina was AZA3 (with a LC 50 of 0.0203 µg/ml)＞AZA2 (0.0273 µg/ml) ＞PTX2 (0.0396 µg/ml)＞DTX1 (0.0819 µg/ml)＞AZA1 (0.106 µg/ml)＞ SPX1 (0.144 µg/ml)＞YTX (0.172 µg/ml)＞dcSTX (0.668 µg/ml)＞OA (0.728 µg/ml)＞STX (1.042 µg/ml)＞GYM (1.069 µg/ml)＞PbTx3 (1.239 µg/ml)＞hYTX (1.799 µg/ml)＞PbTx2 (2.415 µg/ml). For the binary exposure, additive effects of OA and DTX1, DTX1 and hYTX; antagonistic effects of OA and PTX2, OA and STX; and synergetic effects of DTX1 and STX, DTX1 and YTX, DTX1 and PTX2, PTX2 and hYTX on the mortality of A. salina were observed. These results provide valuable toxicological data for assessing the impact of phycotoxins on marine planktonic species and highlight the potential ecological risk of toxic HABs in marine ecosystems.