The feasibility of the zebrafish embryo as a promising alternative for acute toxicity test using various fish species: A critical review

Abstract With the European Union's restrictions on toxicity tests using vertebrates and the issue of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development test guideline 236, the fish embryo test (FET) has become a promising alternative to acute fish toxicity test (AFT), with zebrafish embryos being used the most. A large number of studies showed zebrafish FET correlated well with zebrafish AFT, yet its representativeness for other fish species is still under evaluation. In this review, toxicity data of zebrafish FET were summarized and compared with AFT using zebrafish and other test species in various countries, such as fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), and Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus). Previous findings of good relationship between zebrafish FET and AFT were confirmed, with a significant relationship between the median lethal and effect concentrations (LC50 and EC50) in FET and AFT LC50 for 87 chemicals (log (LC50AFT) = 1.00 × log (LC50FET) − 0.0829, p