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MERC STDN Test Plan
21
14. Tables 4 – 8, Summaries of MERC Toxicity Test Methods
Table 4. Summary of the Test Conditions and Test Acceptability Criteria for the Sheepshead
Minnow
Cyprinodon variegatus
96-Hour Acute Toxicity Test
Test type:
Static renewal
Test duration:
96 h
Temperature:
25 ºC (± 1ºC)
Lighting:
Normal laboratory fluorescent
Photoperiod:
16 h light, 8 h dark
Test chamber size:
250 ml
Test solution volume:
200 ml
Renewal of test solutions:
After 48-h
Age of test organisms:
1 to 14 days; 24-h range in age
No. organisms per test chamber:
10
No. replicate chambers per concentration:
2
No. organisms per concentration:
20
Feeding regime:
Artemia
nauplii (<24 h old) during holding;
Feed approximately 0.2 ml Artemia nauplii
concentrate 2 h prior to renewal at 48 h.
Test chamber cleaning:
Cleaning prior to 48 h renewal
Test chamber aeration:
None, unless DO concentration falls below 4.0
mg/l. Rate should not exceed 100 bubbles/min
Dilution water:
Baltimore Harbor water collected at the same
time as the initial untreated ballast water
Test dilutions:
100, 56, 32, 18, and 10 % ballast discharge or
receiving water by volume plus a Baltimore
Harbor and a Wye River control
Dilution series:
0.56 dilution series
Endpoint:
Mortality
Test acceptability criterion:
90% or greater survival in controls