World Congress of Malacology Antwerp ... - Unitas Malacologica

distribution of two Baikal gastropod species is similar to the ecotypes of a sea snail Littorina saxatilis
(see review Rolan-Alvarez, 2007) and apparently is an evidence of initial stages in sympatric
speciation. It is planning to investigation of the molecular variability of the ecotypes.The ecotypes of
Baikal gastropods described by molecular genetic means will be studied further. This study was
carried out within the State Program N 7.9.1.3 and supported by SB RAS project N 11.14
(“Biodiversity…”), RFBR project N 05-04-97258
Comparative assessment of reproductive toxicity of contaminated freshwater sediments
by in vivo biotests with Potamopyrgus antipodarum and in vitro assays
Mazurova, E. 1 ; Blaha, L. 1 ; Hilscherova, K. 1 ; Giesy, J. P. 2 ; Triebskorn, R. 3
1. RECETOX, Masaryk University, Kamenice 3, Brno 62500, Czech Republic,
Email: emazurova@yahoo.com; ludek.blaha@recetox.muni.cz; hilscherova@recetox.muni.cz
2. Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada,
Email: jgiesy@aol.com
3. Steinbeis-Transfer Center for Ecotoxicology and Ecophysiology, Blumenstrasse 13, Rottenburg
72108, Germany,
Email: stz.oekotox@gmx.de
Reproductive toxicity of sediments contaminated with waste coal was examined in chronic laboratory
tests with the prosobranch snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. The exposure was conducted with
control sediment, contaminated sediment and two mixtures of these sediments. Furthermore, the
effects of three doses of organic extracts prepared from the contaminated sediment (added to the
control sediment) were also studied. The fecundity of parthenogenetic females was examined after
two, five and eight weeks of exposure. During the exposure, an accelerated embryo development
followed by a decreasing production of new embryos was observed. This trend became obvious in the
experiments with native contaminated sediment as well as with control sediment treated with the
organic extract from the contaminated sample. Chemical contaminants of sediment (16 PAHs, PCBs
and OCPs, heavy metals) as well as organic carbon content were characterized in addition. In vitro
studies with H4IIE.luc and MVLN cell lines as well as estrogen-responsive recombinant yeast assays
showed the potency of the sediment organic fraction to elicit dioxin-like and endocrine disruptive
potentials. This integrative assessment demonstrates complex evaluation of ecological risks
associated with complicated heterogeneous environmental samples such as contaminated sediments.
The study was supported by the ECODIS project of EU 6FWP and by the DBU fellowship to E.M.
Updating the gastropod fauna of the Northeastern Pacific
McLean, James H.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, California
90007, USA,
Email: jmclean@nhm.org
The northeastern Pacific marine mollusks were once considered well known, but we of the western
U.S. now lag behind because a database approach to the entire fauna is years away, to be done by the
next generation. Bivalves were monographed in 1990 by Coan, Scott, and Bernard, but no new
species were included. A full revision of the shell bearing gastropods is underway, taking into
account the large number of new species, and following recent advances in phylogeny and
classification. Numerous new species result from deep sea sampling by the University of Oregon and
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and fishery monitoring expeditions along the Aleutian Islands
from the Baxter collection and Roger Clark. With the exception of David Lindberg’s collaboration
with patelliform limpets, I remain the only person committed to revision on a faunistic scale, so I am
without collaborators to hasten the process. This is in contrast to the fauna of the northwestern Pacific
for which there have been major checklists and well illustrated manuals produced by collaborating
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