Golden alga Prymnesium parvum Carter bloom off Azhikode, southwest India In September 2009, during the southwest monsoon season, a quasi-monospecific bloom of Prymnesium parvum was collected off Azhikode (10o 11 02 N; 76o 09 22 E), on the southwest coast of India (Fig. 1). A conspicuous pale brownish surface water discoloration extended through an area about 8-10 nautical miles off the coast. The bloom did not result in foam production or fish mortality and lasted only one day as heavy rain dissipated the cells. This may be the first report of a P. parvum bloom from Indian waters (Fig. 2) [1]. At the time of the bloom, a cell maximum of 8 x 107cells L-1 and chlorophyll a and carotenoid concentrations of 13.54 μg L-1 and 1.91 μgL-1 respectively were observed. The sea surface temperature was 28oC, salinity 34 psu and pH 8. Nutrient concentrations in the bloom area, determined with standard methods [1] were: total nitrogen 12.6 μmol L-1, phosphate 1.9 μmol L-1, silicate 62 μmol L-1 and dissolved oxygen,1.41mg L-1. Blooms of P. parvum associated with faunal mortalities are quite common in temperate seas. Cell densities of 5 x 107 cells L-1 have been associated with faunal loss [2]. However, in the present bloom event, no fish mortalities were recorded despite the high cell density observed. In addition to strain variability of P. parvum from different geographic areas, nutrients may have played a significant role in the harmless effect of this P. parvum bloom. The toxicity of Prymnesium is known to increase remarkably under nitrogen and phosphorous stress [3]. Salinity is another factor regulating the toxicity in Prymnesium: most toxic HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 60 / 2018 blooms of P. parvum have been associated with low salinity (3-12.4 psu) conditions, but in the present study, salinity was 34. The factors responsible for the bloom development have yet to be identified. Hence, it could be concluded that, rather than a single factor, multiple environmental conditions, such as temperature, salinity, pH, nutrients, in addition to geographical adaptations, in a favorable range for a particular species, commonly referred to as species-specific adaptations, played a significant role in the development of the bloom event described here. The bloom forming microalgae P. parvum was isolated and cultures successfully established in the Marine Botany Lab, Dept. of Marine Biology, Microbiology& Biochemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology, to carry out physiological and toxicological studies. Semi-continuous cultures of P. parvum were grown in seawater enriched with Walnes medium at a temperature of 222oC, salinity 35psu, pH 8 and an irradiance of 900 lux. The allelopathic effect of P. parvum grown in different nutrient conditions (both nutrient sufficient and deficient) was checked against four selected microalgae. Our first results showed that phosphorous limited cultures inhibited growth in cultures of microalgae Tetraselmis gracilis, Chaetoceros calcitrans, Nanochloropsis salina and Isochrysis galbana (in prep.). References 1. Strickland J D H & T R Parsons 1972. A Practical Handbook of Seawater Analysis. Fish Res Board Canada, Bull 167, 311 pp 2. Lindholm T & T Virtanen 1992. Environ Toxic Water Qual 7: 165-170 3. Johansson N & E Graneli 1999. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 239: 243-258 Authors Kanjirathingal Chandrasekharan Vijayalakshmy, Amnaveettil Abdulla Mohamed Hatha & Aikarakunnath Varghese Saramma, Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, 682016, India Malayil Gopalan Sanilkumar, Post Graduate and Research Department of Botany, SNM College Maliankara, Kochi 683 516, India Anit Mani Thomas, Post Graduate and Research Department of Zoology, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta- 689 645, India Corresponding author: lakshmichandra86@gmail.com Fig. 2. Micrograph of Prymnesium parvum established in culture 50 μm 15 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 60 - July 2018 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab Marine eukaryote and HAB monitoring in Japan with next generation technology Sequencing technologies such as Illumina MiSeq have made it possible to obtain billions of sequence reads in a Frequency distribution (%) the surface data was used in this study. Surface seawater (0.5 L) was collected weekly with a plastic bucket during the same period. For MPS-based monitoring based on amplicon-seq of 18S-rRNA gene (V79 region), PCR amplification and 454 pyrosequencing were performed accor Inland Sea, 2-17-5 Maruishi, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima 739-045, Japan Hiroshi Shimada, Central Fisheries Research Institute of Hokkaido Research Organization, Hamanaka-cho 238, Yoichi, Hokkaido 0468555, Japan Seiji Katakura, City of Mombetsu, Kaiyo-koryukan, Kaiyo-koen, Mombetsu, Hokkaido 094-0031, Jap Quantifying dinoflagellate cysts in bottom sediments: a response to Anderson 2018 Problems associated with quantifying dinoflagellate cysts in bottom sediments featured prominently in Don Anderson s personal retrospective view of his contribution to the early days of HAB cyst research published rece viously, sample sites should be chosen to avoid such areas if possible. Clearly, there is room for questions or criticism when this dynamic system is modelled from the assumption that bottom sediments, for example in Anderson s work in The Gulf of Maine, are in a static stable condition whereby a sa Contribution of marine invertebrates to Ciguatera poisoning : the case study of French Polynesia Reported as early as the 15th century by explorers, ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is the most prominent non-bacterial seafood poisoning worldwide. Widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, CFP res au développement du phytoplancton ciguatérigène en Polynésie française: CARISTO-Pf n7937/MSR/REC of 4th of December 2015 and Arrêté nHC/491/ DIE/BPT of 30th March 2016). Figure 2. Comparison of Pacific ciguatoxins (P-CTXs) profiles in A) in vitro cultures of Gambierdiscus polynesiensis (TB-92 [14]) Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) technology for field monitoring of Gambierdiscus toxins with passive samplers Ciguatera poisoning is a seafood intoxication classically associated with the consumption of tropical coral reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs), although some marine Fig. 2. Summary of the results demonstrating that SPATT passive sampling could advantageously contribute to the reinforcement of ciguateric risk assessment and management programmes as a supplementary tool. or of very low densities of toxic Gambierdiscus cells. However, CTXs were detected in numero New limits of Ostreopsis distribution in the Bay of Biscay: a first report of Ostreopsis in Santander Bay, Cantabria (Northern Spain) Fig. 1. Location of sampling sites The genus Ostreopsis encompasses benthic dinoflagellates that represent one of the main microalgal threats for beach tourism in w Bloom of Ostreopsis cf. siamensis in Lisbon Bay Fig. 1. Sampling sites on Lisbon Bay Reports of benthic HAB events have increased during the last decade in temperate regions. These have been associated with proliferations of benthic toxic dinoflagellates, in particular species of Ostreopsis. The M Table1 1- List - List the macroalgaecommunity communityspecies species Table ofof the macroalgae ITSA and ITSB primers [6]. Phylogenetic analysis (not Asparagopsis armata Corallina sp. shown) revealed that all the Caulacanthus ustulatus Cystoseira sp. studied sequences grouped Ceramiacea Derbesia s A possible link between the breakdown of a fertilizer tank and a toxic Pseudonitzschia bloom fishery, leaving toxic blooms undetected in other areas. By the time of the bloom, the diatom community primarily consisted of P. seriata (Fig. 3). Identification of P. seriata as the potential culprit diat Fig. 3. Pseudo-nitzschia seriata TEM micrograph of the poroid structure arranged within the striae consisting of two outer rows of larger poroids and one or two inner rows of smaller poroids. induce DA production in P. australis [7], and the most potent DA-inducing N form has been shown to be urea. Golden alga Prymnesium parvum Carter bloom off Azhikode, southwest India In September 2009, during the southwest monsoon season, a quasi-monospecific bloom of Prymnesium parvum was collected off Azhikode (10o 11 02 N; 76o 09 22 E), on the southwest coast of India (Fig. 1). A conspicuous pale browni Regional Workshop on Monitoring and Management Strategies for Benthic HABs if possible, establish tools for standardized procedures. The exercise is open to the entire international community. The goal of achieving improved assessments of the risks associated with BHABs will help reduce the health, Workshop on morpho-molecular methods for the study of dinoflagellate cysts A workshop on techniques for the morphological and molecular identification of cysts from toxic HAB species, led by Drs Kenneth Neil Mertens, Kirsty Smith, Lesley Rhodes and Lincoln MacKenzie, was held recently at the Cawthro Cawthron Summer Scholar Explores Bloom-Forming Freshwater Cyano bacteria Globally, cyanobacteria blooms in freshwater environments are causing water quality problems and health risks with increasing frequency. New Zealand is no stranger to this, suffering from blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria Canadian HAB Scientists Hold Workshop to Establish National Priorities and Develop Research Network A National Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) workshop was organized and chaired by Dr. Ian Perry at the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Sidney, British Columbia, July 11- Joint FAO, IAEA, IOC and WHO Technical Meeting for the development of an InterAgency Global Ciguatera Strategy Harmful Algae News has previously brought information on an initiative between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Environment Laboratories in Monaco jointly with the Oceanographi 12th Advanced Phytoplankton Course - APC 12 Identification, Taxonomy, Systematics Roscoff Biological Station (France) - 19th May to 8th June 2019 APC12 is organized by the Station Biologique de Roscoff together with the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and the IOC Science and Communication Centre on H ICHA 2018 News: 669 abstracts evaluated ! 250 orals + 45 ignite talks selected and participants notified ICHA 2018 News: 669 abstracts evaluated ! 9 plenaries confirmed 250 orals + 45 ignite talks selected and participants notified 3 satellite sessions 9 plenaries confirmed 3 satellite sessions