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Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) is the most frequently reported seafood-toxin illness in the world. It causes substantial human health, social, and economic impacts. The illness produces a complex array of gastrointestinal, neurological and neuropsychological, and cardiovascular symptoms, which may last days, weeks, or months. This paper is a general review of CFP including the human health effects of exposure to ciguatoxins (CTXs), diagnosis, human pathophysiology of CFP, treatment, detection of CTXs in fish, epidemiology of the illness, global dimensions, prevention, future directions, and recommendations for clinicians and patients. It updates and expands upon the previous review of CFP published by Friedman et al. (2008) and addresses new insights and relevant emerging global themes such as climate and environmental change, international market issues, and socioeconomic impacts of CFP. It also provides a proposed universal case definition for CFP designed to account for the variability in symptom presentation across different geographic regions. Information that is important but unchanged since the previous review has been reiterated. This article is intended for a broad audience, including resource and fishery managers, commercial and recreational fishers, public health officials, medical professionals, and other interested parties.

Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) is the most frequently reported seafood-toxin illness in the world, and it causes substantial physical and functional impact. It produces a myriad of gastrointestinal, neurologic and/or cardiovascular symptoms which last days to Mar. Drugs 2008, 6457 weeks, or even months. Although there are reports of symptom amelioration with some interventions (e.g. IV mannitol), the appropriate treatment for CFP remains unclear to many physicians. We review the literature on the treatments for CFP, including randomized controlled studies and anecdotal reports. The article is intended to clarify treatment options, and provide information about management and prevention of CFP, for emergency room physicians, poison control information providers, other health care providers, and patients.

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A simple and reliable method for measuring the sinking rate of phytoplankton is described. This technique is suitable for both heterogeneous field populations and unialgal in vitro cultures. The procedure involves use of settling columns initially containing a uniformly mixed population of cells, and calculates a sinking rate based upon the change in vertical distribution of cells after a given time. The sinking rate calculation, though simple, is couched within a sound theoretical foundation. The biomass index used is optional and can be selected to focus on various parameters of interest. Sinking rates and flux values for particulate C, N, P, Si, chlorophyll, or pheopigment can be obtained simply by assessment of the biomass variables in those terms.Key words: phytoplankton, sinking, methodology, particulate flux, sedimentation