Tropical reef-fish disease outbreaks and mass mortalities in Florida, USA:what is the role of dietary biological toxins

Jh, Landsberg

doi:10.3354/dao022083

Cited by 31 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This species lives in close association with macrophytes, corals, sediments and other substrates associated with coral reefs in tropical and subtropical waters (Bagnis et al, 1979;Anderson and Lobel, 1987). Ciguatoxins have been shown experimentally to adversely affect fish (Davin and Kohler, 1986;Davin et al, 1988;Kohler et al, 1989;Gonzalez et al, 1994), and were postulated in association with tropical reef fish mortalities (Landsberg, 1995), but these toxins are not typically associated with fish kills. We suggest that the concentrations of dissolved ciguatoxins that would be lethal to fish are prevented from occurring in situ due to insufficient cell densities, minimal extracellular toxin and rapid dilution of toxin in the water column.…”

Section: Brevetoxins and Ciguatoxinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brevetoxins, like ciguatoxins, are potent ichthyotoxic neurotoxins that accumulate in fish

Naar

Flewelling

Lenzi

et al. 2007

Toxicon

110

105

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Brevetoxins and ciguatoxins are closely related potent marine neurotoxins. Although ciguatoxins accumulate in fish to levels that are dangerous for human consumption, live fish have not been considered as potential sources of brevetoxin exposure in humans. Here we show that, analogous to ciguatoxins, brevetoxins can accumulate in live fish by dietary transfer. We experimentally identify two pathways leading to brevetoxin-contaminated omnivorous and planktivorous fish. Fish fed with toxic shellfish and Karenia brevis cultures remained healthy and accumulated high brevetoxin levels in their tissues (up to 2675 ng g −1 in viscera and 1540 ng g −1 in muscle).Repeated collections of fish from St. Joseph Bay in the Florida panhandle reveal that accumulation of brevetoxins in healthy fish occurs in the wild. We observed that levels of brevetoxins in the muscle of fish at all trophic levels rise significantly, but not to dangerous levels, during a K. brevis bloom. Concentrations were highest in fish liver and stomach contents, and increased during and immediately following the bloom. The persistence of brevetoxins in the fish food web was followed for 1 year after the K. brevis bloom.

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Section: Brevetoxins and Ciguatoxinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brevetoxins, like ciguatoxins, are potent ichthyotoxic neurotoxins that accumulate in fish

Naar

Flewelling

Lenzi

et al. 2007

Toxicon

110

105

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“…Because most coastal waters are typically affected by suites of anthropogenic pollutants and inputs, it often is difficult to identify any one specific cause of deteriorating health or disease outbreak. Recent mass mortality off the coast of Mauritania among Mediterranean monk seals, thought to have resulted from the transmission of DMV from dolphins that had died in the same area (56), may have been facilitated or caused by a toxic algal bloom (15,57). In addition to directly affecting marine hosts, some infections can compromise the host immune system, which is then capable of serving as a reservoir for other infectious agents (58) including many "new" viruses, some of which are pathogenic to humans and domestic animals (28,59).…”

Section: Conditions Favoring Disease Outbreaksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to diseases, there has been an apparent increase in the frequency of reports of toxic algal blooms in the last decade. Cetacean, pinniped, and fish populations have been affected, often severely, by algal toxins and/or viral epidemics (3,(14)(15)(16). Many toxic blooms in the ocean have been attributed to dinoflagellates, and more than 85 toxic species have been identified (17).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Marine Diseases--Climate Links and Anthropogenic Factors

Harvell

Kim

Burkholder

et al. 1999

Science

1,550

1,202

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Mass mortalities due to disease outbreaks have recently affected major taxa in the oceans. For closely monitored groups like corals and marine mammals, reports of the frequency of epidemics and the number of new diseases have increased recently. A dramatic global increase in the severity of coral bleaching in 1997-98 is coincident with high El Niño temperatures. Such climate-mediated, physiological stresses may compromise host resistance and increase frequency of opportunistic diseases. Where documented, new diseases typically have emerged through host or range shifts of known pathogens. Both climate and human activities may have also accelerated global transport of species, bringing together pathogens and previously unexposed host populations. The oceans harbor enormous biodiversity by terrestrial terms (1), much of which is still poorly described taxonomically. Even less well known are the dynamics of intermittent, ephemeral, threshold phenomena such as disease outbreaks. Despite decades of intense study of the biological agents structuring natural communities, the ecological and evolutionary impact of diseases in the ocean remains unknown, even when these diseases affect economically and ecologically important species. The paucity of baseline and epidemiological information on normal disease levels in the ocean challenges our ability to assess the novelty of a recent spate of disease outbreaks and to determine the relative importance of increased pathogen transmission versus decreased host resistance in facilitating the outbreaks. Our objectives here are to review the prevalence of diseases of marine taxa to evaluate whether it can be concluded that there has been a recent increase. We also assess the contributing roles of human activity and global climate, and evaluate the role of the oceans as incubators and conveyors of human disease agents.

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“…Albright et al (1993) re ported that the dia toms Chaetoceros spp., through physically harmful mechanisms, increased the susceptibility of salmonid fish to bacterial infections. Furthermore, other scientists have discussed the possibility that natural fish populations exposed to blooms of harmful microalgae might have higher risks of outbreaks of infectious diseases (Seymour 1980, Landsberg 1995, Noga 1998. With the ex ception of these few reports, the possible effect of sublethal algal concentrations on the suscep tibility of fish to infectious diseases has received little attention and remains to be addressed experimentally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sublethal concentrations of ichthyotoxic alga Prymnesium parvum affect rainbow trout susceptibility to viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus

Andersen

Lorenzen

Boutrup³

et al. 2016

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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Ichthyotoxic algal blooms are normally considered a threat to maricultured fish only when blooms reach lethal cell concentrations. The degree to which sublethal algal concentrations challenge the health of the fish during blooms is practically unknown. In this study, we analysed whether sublethal concentrations of the ichthyotoxic alga Prymnesium parvum affect the susceptibility of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss to viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV). During exposure to sublethal algal concentrations, the fish increased production of mucus on their gills. When fish were exposed to the algae for 12 h prior to the addition of virus, a marginal decrease in the susceptibility to VHSV was observed compared to fish exposed to VHSV without algae. If virus and algae were added simultaneously, inclusion of the algae increased mortality by 50% compared to fish exposed to virus only, depending on the experimental setup. We concluded that depending on the local exposure conditions, sublethal concentrations of P. parvum could affect susceptibility of fish to infectious agents such as VHSV.

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Tropical reef-fish disease outbreaks and mass mortalities in Florida, USA:what is the role of dietary biological toxins

Cited by 31 publications

References 43 publications

Brevetoxins, like ciguatoxins, are potent ichthyotoxic neurotoxins that accumulate in fish

Brevetoxins, like ciguatoxins, are potent ichthyotoxic neurotoxins that accumulate in fish

Emerging Marine Diseases--Climate Links and Anthropogenic Factors

Sublethal concentrations of ichthyotoxic alga Prymnesium parvum affect rainbow trout susceptibility to viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus

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