Freshwater communities all over the world suffer from anthropogenic stresses such as pesticide contamination. This stress acts as a selective force, inducing alteration in both the composition of species and their relative abundances. In the present work, we tested the genotoxic effect of the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup® on two freshwater gammarid species. The tests were carried out on the native Echinogammarus veneris, and the invasive alien species, Dikerogammarus villosus. The latter is native to the Ponto-Caspian region and has now spread to many large European aquatic ecosystems. It has displaced native gammarids and is considered one of the most disruptive alien species in Europe. The genotoxic effect of Roundup® was measured by DNA fragmentation revealed by comet assay, after either 24 hours or 7 days of exposure. The results obtained demonstrate the genotoxic potential of Roundup® on both species and highlight the higher tolerance of D. villosus to its genotoxic potential. © 2019 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.

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