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Dirty workers: What do we know about the ecotoxicological studies in polychaetes?

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Abstract

We identified publication trends and methodological changes in polychaete ecotoxicological studies since the review carried out by Reish and Gerlinger (Bull Mar Sci 60:584–607, 1997) using a classic review approach. We also carried out a meta-analysis to identify the overall effect of the type of pollutants (e.g., hydrocarbons, metals, pesticides) and to test the consistency of their effect at different levels of analysis (e.g., biochemical, physiological, behavioral) using 14 different biological responses (e.g., bioaccumulation, tolerance, enzymatic activity). A total of 136 articles met the selection criteria and were analyzed for the classic review. Main findings include: (1) studies focused on the effects of metals (48%), hydrocarbons (32%), and pesticides (20%); (2) sublethal effects were more frequent; and (3) the nereidid species Hediste diversicolor was the most studied species. For the meta-analysis, 27 articles met the selection criteria and a total of 168 effect sizes were calculated. The results from the generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) indicated that the hydrocarbons have the strongest effect in polychaetes, while the most sensitive metric is behavior. Enzymatic activity and mortality represented the most sensitive biological responses to estimating the magnitude and direction of the effect. Finally, the tendencies observed in the classic review did not represent the strongest effects in the GLMMs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)-Finance Code 001. We thank Dr. Michael S. Rosenberg, from Virginia Commonwealth University, for sharing the beta version of MetaWin 3.0.6., and Dr. Mary Colleen Hannon, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, for proofreading the manuscript. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Marinha e Ambientes Costeiros, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Thayanne Medeiros Aguiar & Cinthya Simone Gomes Santos

  2. Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX, 77554, USA

    Vanessa Fernández-Rodríguez

Authors
  1. Thayanne Medeiros Aguiar
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  2. Vanessa Fernández-Rodríguez
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  3. Cinthya Simone Gomes Santos
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Contributions

TMA conceived the original idea, designed and conducted the data search, organized data, proposed categories in the meta-analysis, conducted the classic review, and interpreted the results. VFR designed and conducted the meta-analysis and interpreted and discussed results. CSGS structured the idea, interpreted results, and contributed with advice in Annelida knowledge. TMA, VFR, and CSGS wrote the manuscript and contributed to the discussion. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Thayanne Medeiros Aguiar.

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Communicated by Vinicius Farjalla.

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Medeiros Aguiar, T., Fernández-Rodríguez, V. & Gomes Santos, C.S. Dirty workers: What do we know about the ecotoxicological studies in polychaetes?. Aquat Ecol 57, 783–796 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-023-10049-3

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