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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 6895

Erno Fischer and Laszlo Molnar; Growth and Reproduction of Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) in Semi-natural Soil containing various Metal Chlorides. Soil Biol.Biochem. 29(3/4):667-670, 1997

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When the NaCl concentration of Eisenia fetida (Savigny) culture medium was 20, 40, 60 or 80 mM, each concentration resulted in marked sublethal effects. Cocoon production decreased in proportion to the NaCl concentration but the live body masses of the 60 and 80 mM NaCl-treated worms were higher than those of the controls. While 80 mM NaCl had no significant effect on survival, 100 and 120 mM NaCl resulted in a 15 and 70% reduction in numbers, respectively, in 10-week trials. It was found that 60 mM KCl and 120 mM CaCl2, MgCl2, BaCl2, MnCl2, SnCl2 and SrCl2, as well as 180 mM AlCl3 and FeCl3 had no lethal effect on E. fetida. Growth of introduced worms was only slightly affected, but their reproduction was markedly suppressed in all trails compared with controls. We conclude that sublethal concentrations of these metal chlorides have no retarding effect on body mass gain, but via their osmotic effect they retard reproduction significantly. CoCl2, CuCl2 and NiCl2 used in 80 mM concentrations as well as LiCl and TlCl used in 10, 5, and 1 mM concentrations were extremely toxic, resulting in a marked decrease of body mass and total inhibition of reproduction.