Behavioral Alteration of Ninespine Stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and Threespined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) when Exposed to the Anxiolytic Drug Oxazepam.
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: One of the environmental hazards the aquatic ecosystem is faced with today is pollution by pharmaceuticals that enter the aquatic system through wastewater from hospitals, manufacturing processes and improper disposal by the public. Benzodiazepines are a class of anxiolytic pharmaceuticals that have been shown to have behavioral modifying effects on exposed biota. The aim of this study was to investigate if exposure to a concentration (40 µg/l) of oxazepam (a common benzodiazepine) has an impact on the activity, boldness and sociability of Ninespine sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) and Threespined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Sticklebacks (n=100) collected from the harbor of Rovögern, Täfteå, were divided equally into control and exposed groups. The exposed groups were placed in water containing oxazepam (40 µg/l) for seven days and behavioral evaluations on activity, boldness and sociality were conducted on each individual pre- and post-treatment. Surprisingly, the results showed no significant change in the activity, boldness or sociality in response to oxazepam. However, the control fish were less social and showed a trend towards reduced activity in the second behavioral test, which may suggest that oxazepam has a behavioral effect on sticklebacks. Comparisons between species showed that P. pungitius individuals were less social than G. aculeatus in the control treatment after exposure, but they did not differ in boldness. However, in the exposed group post-treatment, P. pungitius only showed a trend of being less social than G. aculeatus, and they also showed a trend towards being less bold after exposure of oxazepam.
Author: Jenni Burman
Language: English
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3119356746