The Presence and Impacts of Pollutants On Central Appalachian Crayfishes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v93i1.834Keywords:
Water quality, Crayfish, BioaccumulationAbstract
Cambarus veteranus and Cambarus callainus are federally endangered and threatened crayfish, that live in the coalfields region of central Appalachia. The dominant industry and land use in this region is coal mining. Currently, the most common form of coal mining in this region is surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal mining. There is a lack of data on the specific impacts of pollutants from mining on crayfish and their congeners. Chemical pollutants along with increased sedimentation from industrial sources are known to cause adverse effects in crustaceans and can even be lethal. It is crucial to better understand how these pollutants are affecting crayfishes inhabiting coalfield streams. This study will assess the bioaccumulation of the metals arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and selenium (Se) in non-imperiled cambarid crayfish that are being used as surrogate species for C. veteranus and C. callainus by analyzing the hepatopancreas and gill tissues. Physical maladies, such as deformed dactyl and gill melanization, will also be quantified. This data, as well as species abundance at each site, will be analyzed to better understand the effects of mining on crayfish.References
Baird NA, Etter PD, Atwood TS, Currey MC, Shiver AL, Lewis ZA, Selker EU, Cresko WA and Johnson EA (2008). Rapid SNP discovery and genetic mapping using sequenced RAD markers. PLoS ONE 3(10): 1–7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003376.
BARNETT C., ZANETHIA, ADAMS B. SUSAN, OCHS A. CLIFFORD, GARRICK C. RYAN (2019). Crayfish populations in genetically fragmented streams impounded for 36-104 years. Freshwater Biology 00:1-18. doi: 10.1111.
BURNS SL, STEWARD (2005). Bringing down the mountains: The impact of mountaintop removal surface coal mining on southern West Virginia communities, 1970—2004. Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 2310. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/2310
CRNOKRAK, PETER, ROFF A, DEREK (1999). Inbreeding Depression In the Wild. Heredity 83: 260- 270. doi: 10.1038.
Goretti E, Pallottini M, Ricciarini MI, Selvaggi R and Cappelletti D (2016). Heavy metals bioaccumulation in selected tissues of red swamp crayfish: An easy tool for monitoring environmental contamination levels. Science of the Total Environment 559: 339–346. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.169.
Hopkins RL, Altier BM, Haselman D, Merry AD and White JJ (2013). Exploring the legacy effects of surface coal mining on stream chemistry. Hydrobiologia 713(1): 87–95. doi: 10.1007/s10750-013-1494-9.
Loughman ZJ and Welsh SA (2010). Distribution and conservation standing of West Virginia crayfishes. Southeastern Naturalist 9(SPECIAL ISSUE 3): 63–78. doi: 10.1656/058.009.s304.
Loughman ZJ, Welsh SA, Fetzner JW and Thoma RF (2015). Conservation of imperiled crayfish, Cambarus veteranus (decapoda: Reptantia: Cambaridae). Journal of Crustacean Biology 35(6): 850–860. doi: 10.1163/1937240X-00002383.
Loughman ZJ, Welsh SA, Sadecky NM, Dillard ZW and Katie Scott R (2017). Evaluation of physicochemical and physical habitat associations for Cambarus callainus (Big Sandy crayfish), an imperilled crayfish endemic to the Central Appalachians. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 27(4): 755–763. doi: 10.1002/aqc.2746.
Loughman ZJ, Welsh SA, Sadecky NM, Dillard ZW and Scott RK (2016). Environmental covariates associated with Cambarus veteranus Faxon, 1914 (Decapoda: Cambaridae), an imperiled Appalachian crayfish endemic to West Virginia, USA. Journal of Crustacean Biology 36(5): 642–648. doi: 10.1163/1937240X-00002456.
Lovett J (1999). Structure and function of streams in the Pigeonroost Branch watershed , and the influence of mountain top removal and valley fill on southern West Virginia watershed-ecosystems.
Pond GJ, Passmore ME, Borsuk FA, Reynolds L, and Rose CJ (2008). Downstream effects of mountaintop coal mining: comparing biological conditions using family- and genus-level macroinvertebrate bioassessment tools. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 27: 717–737.
Richman NI, Böhm M, Adams SB, Alvarez F, Bergey EA, Bunn JJS, Burnham Q, Cordeiro J, Coughran J, Crandall KA, Dawkins KL, Distefano RJ, Doran NE, Edsman L, Eversole AG, Füreder L, Furse JM, Gherardi F, Hamr P, Holdich DM, Horwitz P, Johnston K, Jones CM, Jones JPG, Jones RL, Jones TG, Kawai T, Lawler S, López-Mejίa M, Miller RM, Pedraza-Lara C, Richardson AMM, Schultz MB, Schuster GA, Sibley PJ, Souty-Grosset C, Taylor CA, Thoma RF, Walls J, Walsh TS and Collen B (2015). Multiple drivers of decline in the global status of freshwater crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidea). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 370(1662): 1–11. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0060.
Suárez-Serrano A, Alcaraz C, Ibáñez C, Trobajo R and Barata C (2010). Procambarus clarkii as a bioindicator of heavy metal pollution sources in the lower Ebro River and Delta. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 73(3): 280–286. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2009.11.001.
Taylor CA, Schuster GA, Cooper JE, DiStefano RJ, Eversole AG, Hamr P, Hobbs HH, Robison HW, Skelton CE and Thoma RF (2007). A Reassessment of the Conservation Status of Crayfishes of the United States and Canada after 10+ Years of Increased Awareness. Fisheries. doi: 10.1577/1548-8446(2007)32[372:arotcs]2.0.co;2.
Taylor CA, Warren ML, Fitzpatrick JF, Hobbs HH, Jezerinac RF, Pflieger WL and Robison HW (1996). Conservation Status of Crayfishes of the United States and Canada. Fisheries. doi: 10.1577/1548-8446(1996)021<0025:csocot>2.0.co;2.
Thoma RF, Loughman ZJ and Fetzner JW (2014). Cambarus (Puncticambarus) callainus, a new species of crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from the Big Sandy River basin in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, USA. Zootaxa 3900(4): 541–554. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3900.4.5.
USEPA Report (2004) Metals, pH, and Fecal Coliform TMDLs for the Guyandotte River Watershed, West Virginia. https://dep.wv.gov/WWE/watershed/TMDL/Documents/6235_Guyandotte_TMDL_Report.pdf
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) (2004). An Ecological Assessment of the Lower Guyandotte River Watershed.
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) (2008) West Virginia Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Charleston, West Virginia.
West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey *(2017) History of West Virginia Mineral Industries - Coal.
Zhang Y, Li Z, Kholodkevich S, Sharov A, Chen C, Feng Y, Ren N and Sun K (2020). Effects of cadmium on intestinal histology and microbiota in freshwater crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Chemosphere 242. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125105.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science applies the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license to works we publish. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
