Acute toxicity of ammonia in Meagre (Argyrosomus regiusAsso, 1801) at different temperatures

Argyrosomus regius (3.0 ± 0.9 g) were exposed to different concentrations of ammonia in a series of acute toxicity tests by the static renewal method at three temperature levels (18, 22 and 26°C) at a pH of 8.2. Low temperature clearly increased the tolerance of the fish to total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and unionized ammonia (NH3) (P < 0.05). While the 96-h LC50 values of TAN were 19.79, 10.39 and 5.06 mg L−1, the 96-h LC50 of NH3 were 1.00, 0.70 and 0.44 mg L−1 at 18, 22 and 26°C respectively. The safe levels of NH3 for A. regius was estimated to be 0.10, 0.07 and 0.04 mg L−1 at 18, 22 and 26°C respectively (P < 0.05). This study clearly indicates that A. regius is more sensitive to ammonia than other marine fish species cultured on the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic coasts.