Behavioral effects in adult zebrafish after developmental exposure to carbaryl

Chemical exposure during the early life stages of development may have long lasting effects on organisms that are rarely studied. The present work intended to evaluate the effect of embryonic exposure to the pesticide carbaryl on adult fish behavior. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were exposed, for 4 days, to sublethal concentrations of carbaryl (0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 mg/L) plus a control and then kept in standard cultivation conditions until adulthood. A battery of behavioral tests was then performed to assess anxiety-like behavior (locomotor activity, thigmotaxis and novel tank diving test), social behavior, and feeding. Developmental exposure of zebrafish to sublethal concentrations of carbaryl produced important behavioral alterations in the adulthood. Main effects included decreased locomotion/hypoactivity (increase in slow movements and decrease of medium and rapid movements), especially in the light periods. Moreover, spatial pattern also changed: while during dark periods control fish increased activity in the outer zone of the tank, this was not observed in exposed fish. Overall, this demonstrated the importance of life stage exposure, clearly demonstrating long lasting effects of a (chemical) stress event at embryonic stages. This data supports the need of considering this scenario in environmental risk evaluations. Further work should focus on the mechanistic effects of developmental disruption responsible for the effects observed.