A whole-sediment test with the infaunal amphipod Monocorophium insidiosum has been developed to assess the long-term effects exerted by sediment contamination on survival, growth rates and attainment of sexual maturity. Juvenile amphipods were exposed for 28 days to a control sediment (native sediment) and three sediment samples collected in sites of the Venice Lagoon, characterized by contamination levels ranging from low to moderate, and absence of acute toxicity toward amphipods. Growth rate was estimated as daily length (μm d-1) and weight increments (μg d-1). The long-term exposure to the test sediments affected significantly both growth rate and attainment of sexual maturity of the females of M. insidiosum. In contrast, survival was high and uniform among all the samples, despite the contamination gradient. The results suggest growth to be the more reliable and statistically relevant endpoint. Attainment of sexual maturity, although allowed the identification of detrimental effects, was affected by a higher among-replicates variance as compared with growth rates, and thus less reliable than growth for the identification of impairments. The significant impairments observed both on growth and attainment of maturity evidenced the need to address the monitoring, also in the Lagoon of Venice, towards the assessment of the long-term effects on benthic species.
Keywords: Amphipods; Growth rate; Long-term effects; Sexual maturity.