Arsenic Exposure Affects Embryo Development of Sea Urchin, Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816)

Andrea Gaion, Alice Scuderi, David Pellegrini, Davide Sartori
  • Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, September 2013, Springer Science + Business Media
  • DOI: 10.1007/s00128-013-1098-0

Arsenic toxicity to sea urchin embryos

What is it about?

Toxicity tests were performed with embryos of Paracentrotus lividus to investigate the toxicological effect of two arsenic species: arsenate (AsV), expected to be more toxic, and dimethyl-arsinate (DMA) expected to be less toxic. Exposures to toxicants were performed at different developmental stages in order to identify the most sensitive phase of embryological development

Why is it important?

Thanks to our experiment we proved that the 8 cell stage was the most sensitive to arsenic; at a concentration of 50 μg L−1 DMA proved to be more toxic than AsV, resulting in nearly 50 % of normal-shaped plutei against the 74 % recorded for AsV. Starting the administration of arsenic at the morula stage, arsenate proved to be significantly more toxic when compared to DMA.


Dr Andrea Gaion
South Devon College

It is important to understand the biological damage that different toxic compounds can cause to the most sensitive stages of nektonic larvae. This study drew attention to different toxicological patterns for two arsenic species on P. lividus pluteus development.

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The following have contributed to this page: Dr Andrea Gaion