A psychiatric drug found in waste-water plant effluents alters the migratory behavior of critically endangered Anguilla anguilla juveniles

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
• Main Authors: Bouchard, Colin, Monperrus, Mathilde, Sebihi, Stellia, Tentelier, Cédric, Bolliet, Valérie
• Other Authors: Ecologie Comportementale et Biologie des Populations de Poissons (ECOBIOP), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux (IPREM), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR-16-IDEX-0002,E2S,E2S(2016)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Activity; Boldness; Behavioral alterations; Chemical contamination; European eel; Exploratory behavior; Benzodiazepine; Glass eel; Migratory behavior; Upstream migration; [CHIM.MATE]Chemical Sciences/Material chemistry; [CHIM.ANAL]Chemical Sciences/Analytical chemistry; [CHIM.POLY]Chemical Sciences/Polymers; [CHIM.THEO]Chemical Sciences/Theoretical and/or physical chemistry; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://univ-pau.hal.science/hal-04224458; https://univ-pau.hal.science/hal-04224458/document; https://univ-pau.hal.science/hal-04224458/file/1-s2.0-S014765132301000X-main.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115496

International audience Migratory fishes cross or settle in several environments potentially polluted. Psychiatric drugs, which represent one growing pollution and are found in discharges from waste-water treatment plants, may alter individual behaviors. Here, we assessed behavioral alterations in the upstream migratory behavior of Anguilla anguilla caused by diazepam, an anxiolytic. We monitored the swimming activity, swimming behavior, and boldness to assess whether diazepam impacts them or not. Our 7-day behavioral follow-up allowed us to test the kinetics of the potential effects of diazepam. We found diazepam reduced swimming activity and altered individual swimming behavior, with fewer individuals swimming against the current, so swimming upstream. Those effects varied over time and were stronger at the end of our monitoring, suggesting chemical pollutants encountered in estuaries may act as a chemical burden for individuals, despite metabolisation. We also found diazepam favored bolder behavior in glass eels. Our results provide new knowledge on chemical pollution and psychiatric drugs inducing behavioral alterations. Those alterations may have ecological and evolutionary consequences for glass eels, by diminishing predator avoidance and impacting spatial colonization, and thus, local density.