Freshwater mysids in ecotoxicology: Testing and culturing freshwater mysid species under laboratory conditions

Mysid shrimps such as the marine Americamysis bahia have become a subject of interest in ecotoxicological research as they appear to react rather more sensitive to exposure to plant protection products than previously tested freshwater macroinvertebrates. Although it is curious that in the freshwater risk assessment of plant protection products a marine species is used, the interesting question is whether its observed sensitivity can actually be a representation of a response that has not yet been identified by testing relevant freshwater macroinvertebrates. As the order of the mysid shrimps also contains several freshwater species, this project focussed on the development of a laboratory test with freshwater Mysids. For this purpose, holding and culturing conditions needed to be investigated first in order to keep the animals in the lab properly. This report is an account of the different attempts of culturing and holding the freshwater mysid Limnomysis benedenii in the laboratory of Wageningen Environmental Research.