Estudos sobre a toxicidade aguda do oxicloreto de cobre para o peixe Poecilia reticulata

The present study was carried out with the objective of determining the acute toxicity of the fungicide copper oxychloride for the common guppy (Poecilia reticulata), as well as the bioaccumulation of that substance in the fish. In the test of acute toxicity, the guppies of both sexes, with approximately 90 ± 10 mg of weight, were exposed to growing concentrations of the fungicide for 96 hours. The LC50 calculated was 0.1 mg/L of copper oxychloride, corresponding to 0.06 mg/L of metallic copper. In the bioaccumulation test, the fishes were exposed to the concentrations of 0.02 and 0.0006 mg/L of copper for 192 hours, and after transferred to uncontaminated water, where they lasted for 168 hours, in order to observe the capacity of the fishes in depurate the metal. In the test, the copper accumulation was registered in fishes exposed to both tested concentrations, however the metal was totally eliminated only by the fishes exposed to the smallest concentration (0.0006 mg/L).