Keywords: 
• Pelophylax nigromaculatus embryo /
• developmental toxicity /
• chemical management

Abstract: It is important for chemical environmental management in each country to assess chemical ecotoxicity using an appropriate test organism, in particular, native species. Based on several endpoints including median lethal concentration (LC₅₀), median teratogenic concentration (TC₅₀), teratogenic index (TI) and minimum concentration to inhibit growth (MCIG), an embryo developmental toxicity assay was established using the embryos of the native amphibian Pelophylax nigromaculatus. Choosing pentachlorophenol (PCP), retinoic acid (RA), cadmium chloride (CdCl 2) and potassium dichromate (K₂Cr₂O₇) as test chemicals, we evaluated the sensitivity of the assay. Also, we tested the assay repeatability using PCP as a test chemical. The LC₅₀ values of PCP, RA, CdCl₂ and K₂Cr₂O₇ for P. nigromaculatus embryos were 572.3 μg·L^-1, 54.8 μg·L^-1, 6.8 mg·L^-1 and 97.5 mg·L^-1, respectively. The TC₅₀ values of PCP, RA, and CdCl₂ were 246.5 μg·L^-1, 18.7 μg·L^-1 and 3.4 mg·L^-1, respectively. The TI values of PCP, RA, and CdCl 2 were 2.3, 2.9 and 2.0, respectively. The MCIG values of PCP, RA, and CdCl₂ were 160.0 μg·L^-1, 10.1 μg·L^-1 and 2.4 mg·L^-1, respectively. In repeated trials, the coefficients of variationfor LC₅₀, TC₅₀, TI and MCIG of PCP for the assay were 12.6%, 18.0%, 23.0% and 18.6%, respectively. In comparison with the data concerning Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus given in the literature, P. nigromaculatus embryos to certain chemicals exhibited different sensitivity from X. laevis embryos, with comparable coefficients of variation for these endpoints among two species. Therefore, the P. nigromaculatus embryo developmental toxicity assay established in this study can be used to assay developmental toxicity of chemicals, which could provide a technical support for China's environmental management.