Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

Vol 26, Issue 1, 2020; Page No.(348-355)

ENHANCEMENT SALINITY INHIBITS TOXICITY OF HEAVY MERCURY (HG) METALS TO DEVELOPMENT OF OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS L. EMBRYOS

Siwi Paramadina, Juni Triastuti and Akhmad Taufid Mukti

Abstract

Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) is one of the freshwater fish that lives in freshwater and has valuable commodities in Indonesia. Contamination of heavy metals into the environment has become a problem that needs world attention. Mercury (Hg) is one of the metal elements that has high toxicity and has the potential to accumulate in the body of the organism. The concentration of heavy metals can increase with decreasing salinity. Exposure to Hg at low salinity is feared to cause abnormalities and deaths in the embryo of Oreochromis niloticus L. This study aims to determine the effect of exposure to Hg on different salinity on embryo development Oreochromis niloticus L. and find out the optimal salinity for embryo development exposed to Hg. Parameters of observation include hatchability, embryo development time span and percentage of larval abnormalities that have been exposed to Hg at doses of 0.005 mg/L at 0 ppt salinity, 10 ppt and 20 ppt. Calculations are carried out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The results show that the use of salinity can reduce the effect of exposure to Hg at salinity of 20 ppt with the highest hatchability of 76.80b ± 4.56. There is an effect of exposure to Hg on different salinity to embryo development Oreochromis niloticus L. Toxicity Hg is inversely proportional to salinity, the higher the salinity, the lower Hg toxicity.