Multispecies mass mortality of marine fauna linked to a toxic dinoflagellate bloom
| Autor: | Sylvie Lessard, Nadia Ménard, Michel Starr, Pierre Béland, Denis Lefaivre, Gilbert Sauvé, Michel Robert, Andrew Wotherspoon, Stéphane Lair, Lena N. Measures, Sonia Michaud, Michael A. Quilliam, Michael Scarratt, Robert Michaud |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Fauna lcsh:Medicine Marine and Aquatic Sciences Toxicology Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 01 natural sciences Medicine and Health Sciences Toxins Marine Fish lcsh:Science Mammals Liquid Chromatography Seals Multidisciplinary biology Ecology Chromatographic Techniques Fishes food and beverages Eutrophication Plankton Alexandrium tamarense Vertebrates Dinoflagellida Bloom Research Article Toxic Agents Marine Biology Research and Analysis Methods 010603 evolutionary biology Algal bloom Birds Animals Seawater Marine Mammals Toxicity 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology lcsh:R fungi Organisms Dinoflagellate Biology and Life Sciences Aquatic animal Molluscs biology.organism_classification Invertebrates High Performance Liquid Chromatography Amniotes Earth Sciences lcsh:Q |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 5, p e0176299 (2017) |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Following heavy precipitation, we observed an intense algal bloom in the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) that coincided with an unusually high mortality of several species of marine fish, birds and mammals, including species designated at risk. The algal species was identified as Alexandrium tamarense and was determined to contain a potent mixture of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST). Significant levels of PST were found in the liver and/or gastrointestinal contents of several carcasses tested as well as in live planktivorous fish, molluscs and plankton samples collected during the bloom. This provided strong evidence for the trophic transfer of PST resulting in mortalities of multiple wildlife species. This conclusion was strengthened by the sequence of mortalities, which followed the drift of the bloom along the coast of the St. Lawrence Estuary. No other cause of mortality was identified in the majority of animals examined at necropsy. Reports of marine fauna presenting signs of neurological dysfunction were also supportive of exposure to these neurotoxins. The event reported here represents the first well-documented case of multispecies mass mortality of marine fish, birds and mammals linked to a PST-producing algal bloom. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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