Activity Rhythms of Barnacles as a Behavioural Bioindicator of Copper Pollution in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt
Sallam, A., Ghobashy, M., Elkhawass, E., Ghobashy, A. (2006). Activity Rhythms of Barnacles as a Behavioural Bioindicator of Copper Pollution in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt. EKB Journal Management System, 1(1), 1-8.
Alaa El-Din Sallam; Mahi Ghobashy; Elham Elkhawass; Abdel-Fattah Ghobashy. "Activity Rhythms of Barnacles as a Behavioural Bioindicator of Copper Pollution in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt". EKB Journal Management System, 1, 1, 2006, 1-8.
Sallam, A., Ghobashy, M., Elkhawass, E., Ghobashy, A. (2006). 'Activity Rhythms of Barnacles as a Behavioural Bioindicator of Copper Pollution in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt', EKB Journal Management System, 1(1), pp. 1-8.
Sallam, A., Ghobashy, M., Elkhawass, E., Ghobashy, A. Activity Rhythms of Barnacles as a Behavioural Bioindicator of Copper Pollution in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt. EKB Journal Management System, 2006; 1(1): 1-8.

Activity Rhythms of Barnacles as a Behavioural Bioindicator of Copper Pollution in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt

Catrina: The International Journal of Environmental Sciences
Article 1, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006, Page 1-8  XML PDF (376.9 K)
Document Type: Original Article
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Authors
Alaa El-Din Sallam email ; Mahi Ghobashy; Elham Elkhawass; Abdel-Fattah Ghobashy
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, 41522 Ismailia, Egypt
Abstract
The present study aimed to introduce barnacles as a behavioural bioindicator in Lake Timsah, Ismailia,
Egypt. A special design is successfully applied for automatical monitoring of the barnacle cirral
activities. Two barnacle species, Balanus eburneus and B. amphitrite, were collected for the present
experiments. The observed typical cirral activities served mainly for feeding. Fast beats reached up to
100 beats per minute whereas normal beats were up to 50 beats per minute. B. eburneus exhibited
circatidal rhythmicity under free-running conditions (continuous darkness and constant temperature).
As an indicator of the pollution level, the cirral activity patterns were observed under different copper
concentrations. Exposure to Cu2+ concentrations of 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5, 1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, and 0.2 mg/L was
achieved to determine 24, 48, 72, and 96 hr LC50 values. The LC50 values were 1.33, 0.635, 0.40 and
0.291 mg/L in B. eburneus whereas they reached 1.184, 0.493, 0.272 and 0.139 mg/L in B. amphitrite,
respectively. The B. eburneus cirral activity pattern was directly and proportionally influenced by water
copper concentrations at 24 and 96 hr LC50 conditions. It could be concluded that the cirral activity
rhythmicity in barnacles, as an essential behavioural pattern, may be considered as a good tool for
monitoring the pollution in Lake Timsah. The developed design may also be a useful tool for studying
several environmental interactions of the barnacles.
Keywords
Balanus eburneus; cirral activity; Marine environment; rhythmicity monitoring; toxicity
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