ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that reproductive and developmental processes are those life functions most vulnerable to low-level, chronic pesticide exposure in pesticide-sensitive populations of marine crustaceans. Furthermore, these reductions in physiological performance among individuals in the population are accompanied by alterations in their energy metabolism. Experimental studies directed toward an increased understanding of these relationships among reproductive and developmental aberrations and metabolic alterations may provide sensitive biomonitoring tools of pesticide impact on production at a sensitive and critical link in estuarine trophodynamics. For each pesticide, reductions in the measures of physiological performance among pesticide-exposed mysids were accompanied by alterations in their energy metabolism. Modifications in the energy metabolism of grass shrimp larvae occurred with exposure to methoprene concentrations which prevented successful development through metamorphosis. The earliest and most sensitive response of grass shrimp larvae to methoprene exposure was growth retardation. Reduced net growth efficiency values suggest that retarded larval growth rates resulted from less assimilated energy being available for tissue production.
