BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF FRESH WATER BIVALVE EXPOSED TO CUPRIC CHLORIDE DIHYDRATE AND ANTHRACENEJAMADAR RASUL JAFAR AND PANDIT SANGEETA V.Abstract Behavioral changes are immediate responses to environmental toxicants. Behavioral responses promptly indicate disruption of surrounding environment. Prolonged disruption may result in the reduction in fitness level of organisms and potentially death. Present study is focused to assess the changes in behavior in Lamellidens corrianus following the individual and combined exposure of cupric chloride dihydrate (0.1 ppm) and anthracene (0.5ppm) for 7 days (T1) and 14 days (T2) followed by 4 days of recovery (R1 and R2). Extending duration of exposure up to 14 days led to excess uptake of toxicants which in turn led to slow retraction of extended organs. Delayed shell closure responsiveness showed decline in neuromuscular control. Slow and prolonged body activities represented duration dependent lethargic conditions in bivalves. It is clear that toxicant exposure has an impact on behavioral changes and hence, they can be used as effective biomarker for assessment of stress. After exposure, animals were transferred to toxicant free water for 4 days to evaluate whether there was a return to ‘normal’ behavior. Our results demonstrated that although the animals experienced stress due to exposure, they recovered to a great extent.
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