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

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Plankton Ecology of the Southwestern Atlantic

Abstract

A Harmful Algal Blooms Regional Monitoring Program has been carried out in Chubut coastal waters (Patagonia, Argentina) since the year 2000. This program surveys an extended shoreline, with bays and gulfs with shellfish natural banks and farms. Paralytic shellfish poison (PSP)-toxin-producing species, A. tamarense, have been observed during the study period; in addition, species producing diarrheic shellfish poison (DSP)-toxins, such as Dinophysis acuminata and D. tripos and Prorocentrum lima, and amnesic shellfish poison (ASP)-toxins, as several species of genus Pseudo-nitzschia, have been identified. Moreover, the production of the three types of toxins has been proven. Other harmful but nontoxic species have been registered in the area. The aim of this review is to show the temporal and spatial distribution of harmful microalgae species, the environmental factors associated with their occurrence, and their relation to toxic outbreaks during more than 15 years of observations, with special attention focused on the episodes of human intoxications. In addition, we discussed the accumulation and transfer of some phycotoxins through pelagic food webs, from the first trophic levels to large marine mammals, such as whales.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr Martha Ferrario for her great help in identifying species of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia and the divers and helmsmen of the Provincial Plan for Prevention and Control of Red Tide (Chubut province) for the collection of phytoplankton samples and to the Ministry of Fisheries of Chubut province for providing data on timing of shellfish harvesting closures. This work was supported by Project 10/c312, “Atlas de Microalgas Marinas Nocivas de la Costa de la Provincia de Chubut” from Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigación de Hidrobiología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Trelew, Argentina

    Alicia V. Sastre, Norma H. Santinelli, Soledad Díaz Ovejero & Andreana Cadaillón

  2. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina

    Miriam E. Solís, Leilén Gracia Villalobos & Valeria C. D’Agostino

  3. Laboratorio de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina

    Laura B. Pérez

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  1. Alicia V. Sastre
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  2. Norma H. Santinelli
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  3. Miriam E. Solís
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  4. Laura B. Pérez
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  6. Leilén Gracia Villalobos
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  7. Andreana Cadaillón
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  8. Valeria C. D’Agostino
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CONICET, Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Mónica S. Hoffmeyer

  2. CONICET, INIDEP, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Marina E. Sabatini

  3. Universidade de São Paulo, Oceanographic Institute, São Paulo, Brazil

    Frederico P. Brandini

  4. Universidad de la Republica, Facultad de Ciencias+CURE, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Danilo L. Calliari

  5. Laboratorio de Hidrobiología, Universidad de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Trelew, Argentina

    Norma H. Santinelli

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Sastre, A.V. et al. (2018). Harmful Marine Microalgae in Coastal Waters of Chubut (Patagonia, Argentina). In: Hoffmeyer, M., Sabatini, M., Brandini, F., Calliari, D., Santinelli, N. (eds) Plankton Ecology of the Southwestern Atlantic. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77869-3_22

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