Exposure to the insecticide sulfoxaflor affects behaviour and biomarkers responses of Carcinus maenas (Crustacea: Decapoda)

Funding: This study had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the Strategic Project UID/MAR/04292/2020 grants to MARE, project MARINE INVADERS—The impact and mechanisms of success of the invasive seaweed Asparagopsis armata on coastal environments (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031144), and grant awarded to Lénia Rato (SFRH/BD/138492/2018). The project was also partially funded by “Global Invaders—Global trends among valued aquatic invertebrate species: competitive advantages across different latitudes” funded by FCT and DAAD- Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. Sara Novais is funded by national funds (OE), through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of 29 August, changed by Law 57/2017, of 19 July.

Sulfoxaflor is an insecticide belonging to the recent sulfoximine class, acting as a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChRs) agonist. There are few studies regarding sulfoxaflor’s toxicity to non-target organisms. The present study aimed to investigate the acute and sub-lethal effects of sulfoxaflor on Carcinus maenas by addressing survival, behaviour (feed intake and motricity), and neuromuscular, detoxification and oxidative stress, and energy metabolism biomarkers. Adult male green crabs were exposed to sulfoxaflor for 96 h and an LC50 of 2.88 mg L􀀀1 was estimated. All biomarker endpoints were sampled after three (T3) and seven (T7) days of exposure and behavioural endpoints were addressed at T3 and day six (T6). Sulfoxaflor affected the feed intake and motricity of C. maenas at T6. From the integrated analysis of endpoints, with the increase in concentrations of sulfoxaflor, after seven days, one can notice a lower detoxification capacity (lower GST), higher LPO levels and effects on behaviour (higher motricity effects and lower feed intake). This integrated approach proved to be valuable in understanding the negative impacts of sulfoxaflor on green crabs, while contributing to the knowledge of this pesticide toxicity to non-target coastal invertebrates.

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