We studied the effects of three common pharmaceutical compounds, at different tempera tures and salinities, on growth, development and body mass of larval stages of the marine shrimp Palaemon serratus. The pharmaceuticals compounds tested were the anti - inflammatory and analgesic Diclofenac Sodium (DS), the lipid regulator Clofibric Acid (CA ) and the fungicide Clotrimazole (CLZ). The larvae were exposed to concentrations 2 - 3.5 times higher than found i n natural habitats (DS: 36 μ g/l, CA: 9.6 μ g/l and CLZ: 0.14 μ g/l) and also concentrations 40 - 70 times higher than those found in nature (900, 3 10 and 2.78 μ g/l, respectively). Larvae were exposed to two temperatures (18°C and 24°C) a nd two salinities (20 and 32). Neither DS nor CA had any effect on growth development or survival, although the maximum tested and validated concentrations were 40 ti mes higher than those observed in European coastal waters. CLZ had important effects at the higher concentration when larvae were reared in full salinity sea water and at the lower concentration when larvae were reared at salinity 20. At 18°C and salinity 32, high concentrations of CLZ caused significant reductions in developmental and growth rates but had no significant effect on body mass of the first juvenile stage. At 24°C reductions in growth rates were greater than reductions in developmental rates, r esulting in a reduced juvenile body mass, as compared to larvae under control conditions or low concentrations of CLZ. Reductions in growth rates at 24°C were due to larvae passing through 6 instead of 7 - 8 stages. At 18°C, salinity 20 and low concentration of CLZ (high concentrations were not included) reductions in growth rates and increased developmental rates resulted in significant lower juvenile body mass. In summary the effects of emergent compounds on larvae appear to be compound - specific, complex an d context dependent. Changes in body mass at larval stage result from different effects of these compounds on growth and developmental rates. These are based on changes in intermoult duration and in the number of larval instars required to reach the juveni le stage. In addition, effects of emergent compounds on growth and development appear to be stronger when organisms are already under some type of stress (e.g. osmotic stress in the present case). This calls for a multiple - stressor approach to study and mo del the effect of emergent compounds on marine life

Trabajo presentado en el IX Congreso Ibérico y VI Iberoamericano de Contaminación y Toxicología Ambiental (CICTA), celebrado en Valencia del 1 al 4 de julio de 2013.

Peer Reviewed