High-speed imaging reveals how antihistamine exposure affects escape behaviours in aquatic insect prey

Jonsson, Micael and Andersson, Magnus and Fick, Jerker and Brodin, Tomas and Klaminder, Jonatan and Piovano, Susanna (2019) High-speed imaging reveals how antihistamine exposure affects escape behaviours in aquatic insect prey. Science of the Total Environment, 648 . 1257 - 1262. ISSN 0048-9697

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Abstract

Aquatic systems receive a wide range of pharmaceuticals that may have adverse impacts on aquatic wildlife. Among these pharmaceuticals, antihistamines are commonly found, and these substances have the potential to influence the physiology of aquatic invertebrates. Previous studies have focused on how antihistamines may affect behaviours of aquatic invertebrates, but these studies probably do not capture the full consequences of antihistamine exposure, as traditional recording techniques do not capture important animal movements occurring at the scale of milliseconds, such as prey escape responses. In this study, we investigated if antihistamine exposure can impact escape responses in aquatic insect, by exposing damselfly (Coenagrion hastulatum) larvae to two environmentally relevant concentrations (0.1 and 1 μg L−1) of diphenhydramine. Importantly, we used a high-speed imaging approach that with high-time resolution captures details of escape responses and, thus, potential impacts of diphenhydramine on these behaviours. Our results show overall weak effects of antihistamine exposure on the escape behaviours of damselfly larvae. However, at stage 2 of the C-escape response, we found a significant increase in turning angle, which corresponds to a reduced swimming velocity, indicating a reduced success at evading a predator attack. Thus, we show that low concentrations of an antihistamine may affect behaviours strongly related to fitness of aquatic insect prey – effects that would have been overlooked using traditional recording techniques. Hence, to understand the full consequences of pharmaceutical contamination on aquatic wildlife, high-speed imaging should be incorporated into future environmental risk assessments.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Additional Information:	Online published 2018, first entered in repository.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Damselfly larvae, Diphenhydramine, Escape response, Pharmaceutical pollution
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) > School of Marine Studies
Depositing User:	Fulori Nainoca - Waqairagata
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2018 22:53
Last Modified:	08 Feb 2021 21:56
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/11059

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