Changes in growth, survival, and some physiological indices of Urmia Lake Artemia (Artemia urmiana) under chronic toxicity of Cypermethrin insecticide

Regarding the use of cypermethrin insecticide in agriculture in West Azerbaijan and the possibility of its entry into the Urmia Lake, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of cypermethrin on growth, survival, and some physiological parameters of Artemia urmiana. For this purpose, the LC50 of cypermethrin for 24, 48, and 96 hours in the nauplii, post-larva, and adult stages were obtained using the probit test. The average LC50 of 96 hours was used to study the effect of chronic toxicity. Then, the Naplii was cultured in 4 treatments including the control group, 25% LC50, 50% LC50, and 100% LC50 for 15 days. At the end of the experiment, growth, survival, antioxidant enzymes activity, and digestive enzymes activity of the whole body were evaluated. The results showed that different concentrations of cypermethrin decreased the growth and survival of A. urmiana (p<0.05) and the amount of this decrease depended on the age of Artemia and the exposure duration. The highest decrease in growth and survival of different life stages of A. urmiana was observed in the 100% LC50 group. The results of antioxidant enzymes activity showed that cypermethrin decreased the levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and malondialdehyde (p<0.05), but there was no change in the activity of glutathione peroxidase (p>0.05). Also, the activities of lipase and alpha-amylase enzymes were decreased (p<0.05), but no significant difference was observed in the alkaline protease activity (p>0.05). In conclusion, the cypermethrin insecticide decreased the growth, survival, and antioxidant and digestive enzymes activities in A. urmiana.