Alien Species in Aquatic Toxicology

Dear Colleagues,

The expansion of non-indigenous species in aquatic environments is a major societal preoccupation. Their effects on the trophic network and the decline in native biodiversity have been abundantly documented. Some of these introduced species, with a rapid demographic increase, have been considered alien species. Many publications have highlighted that these alien species appeared more tolerant to the fluctuations of physico-chemical parameters (such as salinity and temperature) than the native species, but they could also appear more tolerant to pollutants. Many investigations have been carried out using already-existing freshwater or marine alien species as bioindicators in aquatic ecotoxicology. Nevertheless, we can question whether they can really be considered sentinel species if they possess specific mechanisms or a high intensity of molecular and physiological responses against pollutants. This Special Issue in Toxics entitled “Alien species in aquatic environments” will provide responses to this research question and propose to group several articles and reviews exposing comparative analyses in aquatic ecotoxicology confronting native and alien species (e.g., bivalves, gastropods, crustaceans, etc.) from rivers, the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans, and the Caraibe and Mediterranean Seas to explore their mechanisms of response to pollutants and establish if these alien species may be considered model species or sentinels in the context of ecotoxicology. 

Dr. Vincent Leignel
Guest Editor

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• invasive alien species
• ecotoxicology
• aquatic environments
• sentinel
• model species