A novel bioassay is presented that allows for the estimation of the chronic toxicity of contaminants in receiving tropical marine environments. Relevant procedures to identify contaminants of concern and evaluate hazards associated with contamination in these environments have long remained inadequate. The 6-day bioassay is conducted using freshly hatched planktonic larvae of the hermit crab Coenobita variabilis and is targeted at generating environmentally relevant, chronic toxicity data. The developmental endpoint demonstrated consistently high control performance and was validated through the use of copper as a reference toxicant. In addition, the biological effects of aluminium, gallium and molybdenum were assessed. The endpoint expressed high sensitivity to copper (EC₁₀ = 24 µg L⁻¹) and moderate sensitivity to aluminium (EC₁₀ = 312 µg L⁻¹), whereas gallium and molybdenum elicited no obvious effects, even at high concentrations (EC₁₀ > 6000 µg L⁻¹), providing valuable information on the toxicity of these elements in tropical marine waters for derivation of water quality guidelines or testing of compliance limits.

提出了一种新颖的生物测定法，其可以估计在接受热带海洋环境中污染物的慢性毒性。长期以来，在这些环境中识别相关污染物并评估与污染相关的危害的相关程序还不够充分。为期6天的生物测定使用寄居蟹Coenobita variabilis的刚孵化的浮游幼虫进行，目的是生成与环境相关的慢性毒性数据。研发终点显示出始终如一的高控制性能，并通过使用铜作为参考毒物进行了验证。此外，还评估了铝，镓和钼的生物效应。终点表明对铜具有很高的敏感性（EC ₁₀ = 24 µg L^-1）和对铝的中等敏感性（EC ₁₀ = 312 µg L ^-1），而即使在高浓度下（EC ₁₀ > 6000 µg L ^-1），镓和钼也没有引起明显的影响，从而提供了有关热带海洋水域中的这些元素，用于推导水质准则或测试合规性限值。