Harmful Marine Microalgae in Coastal Waters of Chubut (Patagonia, Argentina)

Spatiotemporal distribution of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins in shellfish from Argentine Patagonian coast

“…(1998) who observed the greatest toxicity values in mussels beds in late spring/summer in the Patagonia region, associated with A. catenella blooms. In addition, our results also agree with those of Sastre et al. (2018) who found that the dinoflagellate A. catenella produces recurrent toxic events during spring and summer in the Chubut Province.…”

“…We found a marked interannual variability both in the magnitude and location of the main PSP events observed in this study. The interannual variability in PSP events agree with the differential development and magnitude of blooms of A. catenella reported in coastal waters of the Chubut Province by Sastre et al. (2018).…”

“…(2018) who found that the dinoflagellate A. catenella produces recurrent toxic events during spring and summer in the Chubut Province. By contrast, the maximum toxicity detected in our study (14,000 μg STX eq 100 g −1 , in CB in 2009) was observed in autumn, which is outside of the typical annual bloom period for toxin accumulation in shellfish (Carreto et al., 1998; Sastre et al., 2018). Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and sea surface temperature (SST) satellite data (MODIS-Aqua-Giovanni-https://giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov/giovanni/) for that period showed that in March 2009 Chl-a concentrations in CB were higher (∼4 mg m −3 ) than the climatological average of the period 2003–2017 (∼2 mg m −3 ) and the SST was lower (13.5 °C) than the climatological average for the same period (14 °C).…”

“…(2010) have shown that the variability in toxin content and composition of A. catenella populations in the Argentine Sea were correlated with in situ temperature and nitrate concentration. In Argentine Patagonia, Sastre et al. (2018) reported that the monthly mean nitrate concentration in the southern area was twice as high as that in the northern zone (10.5 μM and 5 μM, respectively), and the sea temperature in the northern area was in a range of between 10.7 °C and 17.5 °C, while in the southern zone it ranged between 8.4 °C and 15.5 °C.…”

“…In the Southwest Atlantic, blooms of the dinoflagellate A. catenella have been detected since 1980 along coastal areas between 37°S (Province of Buenos Aires) and 55°S (Beagle Channel) (Carreto et al., 1981, 1998; Esteves et al., 1992; Benavides et al., 1995; Akselman, 1996; Gayoso and Fulco, 2006; Montoya et al., 2010; Krock et al., 2015; Fabro et al., 2017; Krock et al., 2018). In particular, toxigenic blooms of A. catenella are widespread throughout all monitored sites on the coast of the Chubut Province (42–46°S) (Sastre et al., 2018). In accordance with these previous results, our study shows for the first time the widespread and frequent occurrence of PSP toxins in different shellfish species along the northern Argentine Patagonian coast during a long time period.…”