Effects of the Insecticide Sevin on Various Stages of the Dungeness Crab, Cancer magister

Abstract

Of the life-history stages of the Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, the early larvae are more sensitive to Sevin than are juveniles and adults. A concentration of 1.0 mg/liter did not affect egg hatching but prevented molting of all prezoeae to zoeae. The concentration that killed 50% of the first stage zoeae during a 96-hr exposure (96-hr EC50 for death) was estimated to be 0.01 mg/liter. Few zoeae were killed in 24 hr by 82.0 mg/liter, but the 24-hr EC50 for death within 15 days after the exposure was estimated to be 0.015 mg/liter. The 24-hr EC50 for cessation of swimming, which was not always permanent, was 0.0065 mg/liter. Survival of zoeae after 25 days exposure to concentrations of 0.0001, 0.00032, 0.001, 0.0032, and 0.01 mg/liter were 83, 60, 69, 21, and 0%, respectively, and control survival was 79%. Molting was delayed at a concentration as low as 0.0001 mg/liter.Young juvenile crabs are more sensitive to Sevin than are older juveniles or adults. The 24-hr EC50's for death or irreversible paralysis were estimated to be 0.076 and 0.35 to 0.62 mg/liter for second and ninth stage juveniles, respectively. The behavior, growth, and survival of juvenile crabs were not affected when the animals were exposed to 0.032 mg/liter of Sevin for 24 hr and then held in clean sea water for 44 days. The 24-hr and 96-hr EC50's for death or irreversible paralysis were 0.49 and 0.26 mg/liter, respectively, for adult crabs. After eating cockle clams that had just been exposed for 24 hr to 1.0, 3.2, and 10.0 mg/liter of Sevin, 22, 77, and 100% of adult crabs, respectively, were irreversibly paralyzed within 6 hr. The significance of these findings in field application of Sevin to control oyster pests and predators is discussed.