Effect of Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations On the Toxicity of Several Poisons to Rainbow Trout (Salmo Gairdnerii Richardson)

ABSTRACT A given reduction in the dissolved oxygen concentration of the water from the air-saturation value to a lower level increases the toxicity to rainbow trout of zinc, lead and copper salts, and of a mixture of monohydric phenols, to about the same extent. The effect of a reduced oxygen concentration on the toxicity of ammonia solutions is greater than that found for the other four poisons ; the extra increase can be accounted for by a theoretical calculation of the difference between the pH value of the bulk of the solution and that at the gill surface. An hypothesis is presented to account for the effect of low oxygen concentrations on the toxicity of poisons to fish. It assumes that a given toxic effect is produced by a specified concentration of poison at the gill surface, and suggests that this concentration is governed not only by the concentration of poison in the bulk of the solution but also by the velocity of respiratory flow.