Options
A baseline comparative ecotoxicological study of abundance, physiological, cellular and biochemical responses of Archaster typicus found on St John’s Island and Pulau Hantu
Citation
Ang, H. Y., Jani Thuaibah Isa Tanzil, & Goh, B. P. L. (2023). A baseline comparative ecotoxicological study of abundance, physiological, cellular and biochemical responses of Archaster typicus found on St John’s Island and Pulau Hantu. Asian Youth Journal of Biology, 4, 1–18.
Abstract
Echinoderms have increasingly become subjects of interest as possible biomarkers and bioindicators due to their abundance, ecological relevance and high sensitivity to many contaminants and environmental stressors. The common sea star, Archaster typicus, found along sandy inter-tidal areas in the Southern Islands of Singapore, was utilised in this baseline study to compare the density, physiological, cellular and biochemical responses to the environment at St John’s Island and Pulau Hantu, and to determine if the employed biomarkers could serve as expedient and effective indicators of environmental change. Three field surveys
each were conducted at St John’s Island with three-month intervals (September 2020, December 2020 & March 2021) and Pulau Hantu with one-month intervals (January 2021, February 2021 & March 2021). The physiological biomarker tested was the righting behaviour, cellular biomarker involved cellular lysosome
response through the neutral red retention time (NRRT) assay, and biochemical assays included the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and the total glutathione (GLUT) assay. Results showed that righting response and GLUT concentration were the two biomarkers with better predictability of environmental
change and pollution, with an increase in response shown with increasing environmental stress. Seasonality, or specifically the monsoon seasons was a dominant environmental stressor.
Date Issued
2023
Publisher
The Singapore Institute of Biology
Journal
Asian Youth Journal of Biology