Seasonal abundance and toxicity of the dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus spp. (Dinophyceae), the causative agent of ciguatera in Tahiti, French Polynesia

Cambios estacionales en conjuntos de dinoflagelados epifíticos cerca de la costa norte de la Península de Yucatán, Golfo de México

“…The maximum population densities observed in Yucatan waters were comparable to maxima reported for Gambierdiscus spp. from the western Caribbean (Morton & Faust, 1997;up to 4.00x10 3 cells g -1 dry weight macroalgae), Tahiti, French Polynesia (Chinain et al, 1999;up to 5.00x10 3 cells g -1 WW), and Hawaii (Parsons & Preskitt, 2007; up to 1.15x10 3 cells g -1 WW), and were much lower compared to the highest concentrations observed in other tropical sites. Yasumoto et al (1980) found 3.18x10 5 cells g -1 WW in Gambier Island, French Polynesia, Carlson and Tindall (1985) reported 7.58x10 4 cells g -1 WW from the Virgin Islands, East Caribbean, and Turquet et al (2001) found 6.05x10 4 cells g -1 WW in the Comoros archipelago, SW Indian Ocean.…”

“…While seasonality and annual cycles of phytoplankton communities, including mainly diatoms and dinoflagellates, have been repeatedly investigated throughout the oceans, studies of the annual dynamics of epiphytic/epibenthic dinoflagellates are still scarce. The major exception is studies that have followed the seasonality of individual species that were thought to cause ciguatera (Bagnis et al, 1985;Carlton & Tindall, 1985;Gillespie et al, 1985;Mitchell, 1985;Ballantine et al, 1988;Bomber et al, 1988;Tindall & Morton, 1998;Chinain et al, 1999;Vila et al, 2001;Levasseur et al, 2003). Habitat preference, the influence of environmental factors and population dynamics of the epiphytic dinoflagellates are still poorly known (Richlen & Lobel, 2011).…”

Seasonal changes of benthic and epiphytic dinoflagellates in the Veracruz reef zone, Gulf of Mexico

“…In addition, Gambierdiscus spp. showed a seasonal cycle in cell densities (Chinain et al 1999). In east Tasmanian waters during winter, Ostreopsis siamensis Schmidt appears to be replaced by C. cf.…”

Ciguatera-Causing Dinoflagellates in a Coral-reef Mangrove Ecosystem, Belize

“…There is growing evidence that saxitoxins can serve as an anti-grazing factor (Teegarden et al, 2001). The development of these assemblages appears to require a balance of multiple factors, including nitrogen and phosphorus enrichments, and nutrients from rainfall, to allow their development (Yasumoto et al, 1980;Carlson, 1984;Carlson and Tindall, 1985;Chinain et al, 1999a). The availability of excess nutrients in runoff from highly populated South Water Cay may affect the development of dinoflagellate populations.…”

“…lenticularis, O. ovata, C. monotis, Prorocentrum lima, P. concavum, P. mexicanum, Amphidinium carterae, and A. klebsii (Anderson & Lobel 1987). Harmful-blooms of Gambierdiscus were endemic in Papara, Tahiti (Chinain et al, 1999a), intermediate in Australia (Hallegraeff, 1987), and highest in New Zealand (Rhodes et al, 2000). In the summer at northern New Zealand, in summer, O. siamensis, O. lenticularis and O. ovata cell concentrations were the highest.…”