An extensive review of all the avoidance apparatus which have been used to date in chemical avoidance tests and also an analysis of the trends and needs for new improved designs led to the design of a new avoidance apparatus. The new apparatus is a viable tool for analyzing the behavioral responses of fish to potentially toxic effluents in three dimensions. The method is quick, sensitive and relatively easy to use if sufficient fish stock is available. / The variable parameters of the avoidance reaction were three: (a) the type of the pollutant, (b) the injection system, and (c) the concentration of the pollutant. / Statistical analysis for the experiments included preliminary calculations, time series analysis, analysis of variance and Duncan's tests. / Preliminary tests evaluated the general disposition of fish in the channel, the influence of a water acclimation jet and also the effects of noise, light and temperature. Experiments were performed to define the optimal number of fish per experiment, the influence of video analysis and also of variability, adaptability and continuity. / The types of pollutants used were D.S.S. (dodecyl sodium sulfate)--a well-known reference pollutant, polymers, monomers, a plating industrial effluent and its components (Cr, Ni, Fe). / For all of these, horizontal and vertical distributions were produced together with avoidance curves and avoidance reaction representations. / The role of the avoidance reaction in relation to lethal and sublethal levels has been defined; after the evaluation of synergism and antagonism phenomena, proposed adjustments for safe toxicant levels have been estimated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.71893 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | Hadjinicolaou, John. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 000186574, proquestno: AAINK66631, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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