🐠Species

Trophic levels

Three trophic levels are used when collecting test results :

🌿 algae,

🦐 crustacean (invertebrate),

🐟 fish.

USEtox does not model species-specific effects directly but aggregates toxicity data across these three representative trophic levels.

Species

🌿 Algae

Primary Producers (Trophic Level 1 – Algae and Aquatic Plants)

➡️ Ecological role : Base of the aquatic food chain, photosynthetic organisms sensitive to nutrient and pollutant imbalance. ➡️ Typical endpoint : Growth inhibition (72–96 h EC₅₀).

➡️ Representative test species :

Group	Species (Scientific name)
Green algae	Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (formerly Selenastrum capricornutum)
Diatoms	Navicula pelliculosa
Cyanobacteria	Anabaena flos-aquae
Marine microalgae	Skeletonema costatum, Isochrysis galbana

🦐 Crustacean

🐟 Fish