Seasonal variations of contamination and exoskeletal malformations in the white shrimps Palaemon longirostris in the Gironde estuary, France

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [ADD1_IRSTEA]Dynamique et fonctionnement des écosystèmes

International audience

anglais. Since the end of the 1980s, white shrimps (Palaemon longirostris) from the Gironde estuary have exhibited exoskeletal malformations, mainly involving cephalothorax, rostrum, scaphocerites and uropods. An 8-month study was carried out in 2015. Each month, 200 individuals were sampled and examined for exoskeletal malformations. Temporal variations in malformationfrequency were noted,particularlyduringthebreedingperiod, along withdecreases in the sizeof non-deformedshrimps related to the appearance of juveniles in breeding sites, and high mortality among deformed shrimps. A significant increase in proportions of deformed shrimp was observed, relating particularly to the size (and therefore the age) of individuals. No significant difference was found between shrimp proportions with different numbers of malformations (one to four) for a fixed size class, nor was there any variation in proportions within different size classes for a fixed number of malformations. This would appear toindicate thatthe number ofmalformations isacquiredand new malformations donot seemto appearduringthe lifecycle,exceptforthesmallest(youngest)shrimps.Themalformationspectrumshowednosignificantdifferencesbetweenthe biggest and smallest individuals for the different malformation associations, except for those involving cephalothorax, rostrum and uropods. This would suggest that some malformation associations lead to a higher mortality rate in shrimps subjected to them, due to greater impairment of feeding and/or swimming behaviour. Multiple component analysis of the different types of malformation showed correlations between exoskeletal pieces (rostrum and cephalothorax) and appendixes (scaphocerites and uropods). Regarding metal contamination in shrimp, no significant difference was highlighted between deformed and nondeformed shrimps. Organic pollutants were not measured in tissues. Certain herbicides such as metolachlore and chlortoluron.