Acute TFM toxicity and associated water chemistry data for Salamander mussel (Simpsonaias ambigua) glochidia and juveniles

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission sea lamprey program is concerned with the risk of lampricide applications to non-target animals, especially those of conservation concern. Conneaut Creek (Ohio and Pennsylvania) is routinely treated for larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) and contains a population of salamander mussels, which has been proposed for listing as federally endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Given the spatial overlap between areas treated with TFM and extant populations of salamander mussels, information on its sensitivity to TFM is needed. We assessed the acute toxicity of a common lampricide (4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol, TFM) to Salamander mussels (Simpsonaias ambigua) by conducting three tests on two life stages following American Society for Testing and Materials guidelines. Here, we report the data obtained during acute toxicity using glochidia and juvenile S. ambigua exposed to TFM for 24 hours and 96 hours, respectively. Glochidia experimental exposure concentrations ranged from 0.0 – 12.5 mg/L and juvenile mussels were exposed to 0.0 – 13.41 mg/L, which bracket TFM water concentrations during sea lamprey control treatments.

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