| Autor: |
Litaker RW; CSS Inc. Under Contract to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA., Bogdanoff AK; JHT Under Contract to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.; The Department of General Education, James Sprunt Community College, Kenansville, NC 28349, USA., Hardison DR; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA., Holland WC; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA., Ostrowski A; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA., Morris JA; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
The harmful algal bloom species, Karenia brevis , forms annual, often intense blooms in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly along the west Florida shelf. Though the ability of K. brevis blooms to cause mass mortalities in juvenile fish are well documented, the direct effect of bloom concentrations on larval fish has not been studied extensively. To better understand the potential effect of K. brevis on larval fish survival, laboratory spawned red porgy ( Pagrus pagrus ) larvae from 4-26 days post-hatch were exposed to concentrations of K. brevis observed in the field for either 24 or 48 h. This species is representative of fish which spawn in regions of the Gulf of Mexico and whose larvae are epipelagic and may encounter K. brevis blooms. In this study, three different K. brevis strains varying in the amount of brevetoxin produced were tested. Larval survivorship was found to be inversely proportional to the amount of brevetoxin produced by each strain. The EC 50 value from the combined 24 h experiments was ~163,000 K. brevis cells L - 1 , which corresponds to cell concentrations found in moderately dense blooms. Larval mortality also increased substantially in the 48 h versus 24 h exposure treatments. These findings indicate K. brevis blooms have the potential to contribute to natural mortality of fish larvae and further reduce inter-annual recruitment of fishery species whose stocks in the Gulf of Mexico may already be depleted. |
