The Avoidance Responses of Daphnia magna to the Exposure of Organophosphorus Pesticides in an On-Line Biomonitoring System

In this study, avoidance behavior of the freshwater cladoceran Daphnia magna Straus was used as indicator to assess the early stress of accidental organophosphorus pesticide (OP) contamination. The movement behavior was detected by a multi-species biomonitoring system. There was obvious concentration–response relationship between the OP stress and the behavioral response even at sublethal exposure. A rising OP stress resulted in a significant decrease of response time to escape (RTE; p<0.05). In comparison of different OPs, it was found that there was a power regression between RTE and the toxic unit of OPs. Therefore, the avoidance behavior of D. magna was a sensitive indicator of sublethal OP stress, and the power relationship could be used to predict the early warning thresholds of more OPs in the on-line biomonitoring system.