HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
Defense Date
9-2-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. Marine Biology
First Advisor
Bernhard Riegl
Second Advisor
D. Abigail Renegar
Third Advisor
Esther Peters
Abstract
The proximity of coral reefs to coastal urban areas and shipping lanes predisposes corals to petroleum pollution from multiple sources. Previous research has evaluated petroleum toxicity to coral using a variety of methodologies, including monitoring effects of acute and chronic spills, in situ exposures, and ex situ exposures with both adult and larval stage corals. Variability in toxicant, bioassay conditions, species and other methodological disparities among studies prevents comprehensive conclusions regarding the toxicity of hydrocarbons to corals. This research evaluated the 48-hour toxicity of 1-methylnaphthalene to Porites divaricata using a continuous-flow passive dosing system. The range-finding exposure evaluated the dosing protocol and verified the effectiveness of the passive dosing technique at maintaining exposure concentrations. The full-toxicity exposures resulted in a precise estimate of toxic threshold concentrations for use in the target lipid model. The target lipid model promoted comparisons across different species by calculating the critical target lipid body burden of 355.7 µmol/ g lipid for P. divaricata. This indicates a greater resilience to petroleum hydrocarbon exposure compared to other species for which these data are available.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
NSUWorks Citation
Nicholas Turner. 2016. Quantifying the Toxicity of 1-Methylnaphthalene to the Shallow-Water Coral, Porites divaricata, for Use in the Target Lipid Model. Master's thesis. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, . (426)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_stuetd/426.
Included in
Marine Biology Commons, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons, Toxicology Commons