Research Product

Effects of simultaneous short-term (7.5 to 60 min) thermal stress (24° to 34°C) and total residual chlorination (0.05 to 1.0 mg 1-1) on specific development stages of the mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae), were investigated. For the embryonic stages, the total number of successfully hatched larvae was used as the criterion to measure effect. For the larval stages, survival 24 h after exposure was used. In the embryonic stages, temperature was the most important main variable. Only one embryonic stage (gastrula) was confounded by second-order interactions (temperature x duration of exposure x total residual chlorination). Both 0-day and 7-day-old larval stages showed significant higher-order interactions for all combinations of test parameters, suggesting the presence of synergistic effects of the three main experimental variables.