Raw data for: Are standard test species still relevant? A comprehensive assessment of Daphnia pulex reared in laboratory and wild environments and their responses to organic ultraviolet filters
Data files
Jul 26, 2025 version files 1.42 MB
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Labvswild_raw_data.xlsx
1.41 MB
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README.md
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Abstract
The establishment of laboratory-based species has facilitated the standardization of biological research methods; however, stable culturing conditions of laboratories are dissimilar to the dynamic conditions of natural environments, potentially influencing fundamentally different research outcomes between lab and wild populations. This study sought to compare the toxicity of ultraviolet filters (UVFs) avobenzone, octocrylene and oxybenzone to lab and wild populations of Daphnia pulex, while also testing the effects of culturing both populations in either OECD (lab) or lake water in 48 h and 21 d toxicity tests. Both daphnid populations demonstrated poor performance when cultured in non-ancestral waters for three generations (i.e., lab Daphnia in lake water or wild Daphnia in OECD water), including 25% decreased reproduction in control treatments and ≥50% mortality in most UVF treatments. Toxicity varied in each population cultured in ancestral waters; lab D. pulex were more sensitive to 30.7 μg/L of avobenzone and 18.8 μg/L of oxybenzone (>25% greater mortality, ≥20% decreased reproduction vs wild daphnids), while wild D. pulex were more sensitive to 25.6 μg/L of octocrylene (30% decreased mortality, 44% decreased reproduction vs lab daphnids). These results demonstrate that Daphnia populations can deviate after decades of isolation, highlighting the challenges of relating laboratory-generated data to field results. In addition, culture water greatly impacted daphnid performance during experimentation, potentially leading to misinterpreted results when studying wild organisms. This research highlights the importance of understanding how lab and wild organisms can differ, so that research modelling environmental outcomes can be applied in an appropriate context.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nvx0k6f13
The "Labvswild_raw_data.xlsx" file contains the raw data for the manuscript titled "Are standard test species still relevant? A comprehensive assessment of Daphnia pulex reared in laboratory and wild environments and their responses to organic ultraviolet filters", published in the journal Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry. (DOI: 10.1093/etojnl/vgaf192)
Corresponding author:
Aaron Boyd
University of Alberta
Description of the data and file structure
Sheet: 21_d_exposures
This sheet contains the raw data for the 21-day exposure experiment.
Column A (Treatment_ID)
A 4-letter code summarizing the parameters from columns D-G
The first letter refers to the daphnia source. L = Lab, W = Wild
The second letter refers to the cultural water. O = OECD, d = lake
The third letter refers to the chemical treatment. W = water control, S = solvent control, A = avobenzone, B = oxybenzone, O = octocrylene
The fourth letter refers to the concentration. C = control, L = low, M = medium, H = high
Column B (Replicate)
Assigned sample replicate number within a Treatment_ID (1-20)
Column C (Colony)
Daphnia colony name, summarizing columns D and E.
Listed as [Daphnia_type] in [Water_source]
Column D (Daphnia_type)
Daphnia source, either the laboratory lineage (Lab) or wild caught (Wild)
Column E (Water_source)
Culture water used, either laboratory water (OECD),or lake water (Lake)
Column F (Chemical_treatment)
Chemical treatment is used for exposure. Either water with no additions (Water control), a methanol control (Solvent control), avobenzone, octocrylene, or oxybenzone
Column G (Concentration)
Concentration used for each Chemical_treatment. Listed as micrograms/litre for avobenzone, octocrylen,e or oxybenzone, or % volume/volume for solvent control
Column H (Start_Date)
Calendar date that the exposure began, listed as month, day, year.
Column I (Mortality)
The day on which any given replicate died.
N/A = replicate survived through to the end of the 21-day assay.
Numbers indicate which day of the assay the replicate died.
Column J (Broods)
The number of days on which a replicate was reproduced in any fashion.
Column K (Sex)
The sex of each daphnid. F = female daphnid, M = male daphnid
Columns L-CR
These columns contain the data for each endpoint assessed daily (reproduction, mortality)
DayX_notes columns contain comments regarding the daily collection of data.
DayX_neonates columns represent the number of living neonates released from the parent that day.
DayX_eggs columns represent the number of unhatched eggs that were released from the parent that day.
DayX_stillbirths columns represent the number of neonates released from the parent that were dead at the time of scoring.g
DayX_reproductiveeffort columns represent the sum of the neonates, eggs, and stillbirths produced on that day.
Note: Occasionally, broods would be in progress at the time of scoring, which would cause data to appear over two days. To avoid artificially inflating the number of broods, these were merged into one day's data (the day with more total reproduction). All instances of this are indicated in the corresponding notes column.
Column CS (Total neonates)
The sum of living neonates produced over the 21-day experiment
Column CT (Total Eggs)
The sum of unhatched eggs released over the 21-day experiment
Column CU (Total stillbirths)
The sum of dead neonates at the time of scoring was released over the 21-day experiment
Column CV (Reproductive effort)
The sum of columns CS-CU, representing all reproduction over the 21-day experiment
Column CW (Failed_Repro_Effort)
The sum of columns CT and CU, representing failed reproduction over the 21-day experiment
Column CX (Reproductiveeffort_noeggs)
The sum of columns CS and CU, representing total reproduction excluding eggs produced over the 21-day experiment
Columns CY (Day10_epibionts) & CZ (Day21_epibionts)
The presence of visible epibionts on the daphnid on day 10 or day 21, using a 0-3 scale.
0 = No visible epibionts
1 = < 25% daphnid body covered by epibionts
2 = 25 - 50% daphnid body covered by epibionts
3 = > 50% daphnid body covered by epibionts
Column DA (Wet_mass)
The wet mass of each daphnid at the end of the 21-day experiment, expressed in milligrams.
Column DB (Dry_mass)
The dry mass of each daphnid at the end of the 21-day experiment, expressed in milligrams.
Column DC (MR_raw)
The measured metabolic rate of each daphnid, expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre per hour
Column DD (MR_rSquared)
The coefficient of determination for the measured metabolic rate is in column DC.
Column DE (MR_mass)
The mass corrected metabolic rate of each daphnia (column DC/column DB), expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre per hour per milligram dry mass.
Column DF (MR_notes)
Comments regarding the measurement of metabolic rates.
Column DG (Body_length_no_tail)
The measured length of each daphnid at the end of the 21-day experiment was measured from the carapace above the eye spot to the base of the tail (tail is excluded). Expressed in millimetres.
Column DH (Body_length)
The measured length of each daphnid at the end of the 21-day experiment was measured from the carapace above the eye spot to the tip of the tail (tail is included). Expressed in millimetres.
Column DI (Image_notes)
Comments regarding the measurement of body lengths.
Columns DJ - EW
These columns refer to data in columns L - CR to allow for the identification of each brood released during the 21-day experiment.
BroodX_day columns list the exposure day when the daphnid released brood X.
BroodX_neonates columns represent the number of living neonates released from the parent during brood X.
BroodX_eggs columns represent the number of unhatched eggs that were released from the parent during Brood X
BroodX_stillbirths columns represent the number of neonates released from the parent during brood X that were dead at the time of scoring.
BroodX_reproductiveeffort columns represent the sum of the neonates, eggs, and stillbirths released from the parent during brood. X
Sheet: 21_d_survivourship
This sheet contains survivorship data for each day of the 21-day experiment.
Column A (Colony)
One of four daphnia colonies tested, corresponding to column C in the "21_d_exposures" sheet.
Column B (Treatment)
The chemical treatment daphnids were exposed, corresponding to column F in the "21_d_exposures" sheet.
Column C (Day)
The number of days into the21-dayy exposure experiment
Column D (Alive)
The number of living daphnia of a maximum of 20 starting replicates on each exposure day.
Column E (Total)
The total number of valid replicates remaining on each exposure day. Replicates that were damaged outside of the experimental treatments (handling, spillage, etc) were excluded from the maximum of 20 starting replicates.
Column F (Total_Female)
The number of surviving female daphnids on each exposure day.
Column G (Total_Male)
The number of surviving male daphnids on each exposure day.
Sheet: 48_h_exposures
This sheet contains data from the 48 h exposure experiments.
Column A (Colony)
One of four daphnia colonies tested, corresponding to column C in the "21_d_exposures" sheet.t
Column B (Treatment)
The chemical treatment daphnids were exposed to, including methanol, avobenzone, octocrylene, oxybenzone, or copper.
Column C (Concentration)
The concentration each replicate was exposed. Listed as milligrams per litre for avobenzone, octocrylene, and oxybenzone, micrograms per litre for copper, and percent volume/volume for methanol. Concentrations listed as "Methanol control" refer to a 0.5% methanol control included in treatments requiring the use of an additional solvent. Concentrations listed as "Water control" refer to a water control without additions, matching the water used to culture each colony.
Column D (Replicate)
The replicate number for each exposure (1-4)
Column E (Immobilized)
The number of daphnids that were alive but unable to move after a 48 h exposure.
Column F (Dead)
The number of daphnids that were dead after a 48-hour exposure.
Column G (Effect)
The number of daphnids that were immobilized or dead after a 48-hour exposure. Sum of columns F and G.
Column H (n)
The total number of exposed daphnids present in each replicate.
Column I (Notes)
Comments regarding the 48 h exposure experiment.
Sheet: Daily_temperature
This sheet contains the recorded temperatures during the culturing phase and the experiment phase of this study.
Column A (Date)
The date of each measurement, listed as month, day, year.
Column B (Temperature)
The measured temperature of the room where the work was performed, expressed in degrees Celsius.
Sheet: Nutrient_analysis
This sheet contains the data regarding the measurements of nutrients in water control samples.
Column A (UA-BASL_Sample_ID)
Internal sample identification reference code used by the analysis facility.
Column B (Received_Date)
The date the analysis facility received the sample.
Column C (Sample_Description)
The water source was analyzed.
Column D (Sampling_Date)
The date the sample was collected.
Column E (TOC_(mg/L))
Measurements of Total Organic Carbon, expressed in milligrams per litre
Column F (DOC_(C mg/L))
Measurements of Dissolved Organic Carbon, expressed in milligrams per litre
Column G (Cl_(mg/L))
Measurements of chloride, expressed in milligrams per litre
Column H (SO4_(mg/L))
Measurements of sulfate, expressed in milligrams per litre
Note: Row 9 lists the reported detection limit for each analyte described in columns E-H.
Sheet: Metals_analysis
This sheet contains the data regarding the measurements of metals in water control samples.
Column A (UA-BASL_Sample_ID)
Internal sample identification reference code used by the analysis facility.
Column B (Received_Date)
The date the analysis facility received the sample.
Column C (Sample_Description)
The water source was analyzed.
Column D (Sampling_Date)
The date the sample was collected.
Columns E - AZ: Measurements of dissolved or total concentrations of various analytes, as indicated in the column header, as well as measurement units.
Analytes measured: Ca = calcium, K = potassium, Mg = magnesium, Na = sodium, Ag = silver, Al = aluminum, As = arsenic, Ba = barium, Be = beryllium, Cd = cadmium, Co = cobalt, Cr = chromium, Cu = copper, Fe = iron, Mn = manganese, Mo = molybdenum , Ni = nickel, Pb = lead, Sb = antimony, Se = selenium, Sn = tin, Sr = strontium, Tl = thallium, V = vanadium
Measurement types: dissolved = analyte suspended in aqueous fraction, total = analyte in all fractions of the sample.
Units: mg/L = milligrams per litre. μg/L = micrograms per litre
Note: Row lists the reported detection limit for each analyte described in columns E-H.
Sheet: UVF_analysis
This sheet contains the data regarding the measurements of ultraviolet filters in water samples from the 2121-dayxposure experiment
Column A (Date)
The date the sample was collected.
Column B (Concentration)
The nominal concentration of the sample. Water control and solvent control have expected nominal concentrations of 0. Numbers are expressed in units of micrograms per litre.
Column C (Water)
The water type each sample was prepared in. Either OECD water or lake water, corresponding to the description of column E in the "21_d_exposures" sheet.
Column D (Analyte)
The ultraviolet filter measured for each sample, either avobenzone, octocrylene ,or oxybenzone
Column E (Average)
The average concentration of the analyte across triplicate measurements, expressed in micrograms per litre. <LOD indicates measurements below the limit of detection.
Column F (stdev)
The standard deviation of the triplicate measurements of the analyte in each sample, expressed in micrograms per litre.
Column G (Percent_of_nominal)
The measured analyte concentration vs the target nominal concentration expressed as a percentage. Column E / Column B.