Collection and cultivation methods of Acartia tonsa for toxicity testing

Acartia tonsa were located and collected from Galveston Bay, Texas in June 1995, using plankton nets and transported to the laboratory for culture. After literature searching and laboratory experimentation. A simple reliable method was designed to culture A. tonsa. This method requires a minimum of glassware and supplies. Adult A. tonsa are placed in one gallon bell jars filled with natural seawater. The jars are then maintained in a water bath at a constant temperature. Water changes are conducted twice weekly and organisms are fed daily with a mixture of algae, Skeletonema costatum, isocrysis galbana, and Thalassiosira sp. Gravid females are then isolated in generators for 24 hours to obtain known age neonates. The neonates are maintained up to a specific age and then are used in toxicity tests such as the ``Determination of the Acute Lethal Toxicity to Marine Copepods,`` required in the United Kingdom for all chemicals used for offshore drilling fluid applications.