<i>Ostreopsis</i> cf. <i>ovata</i> Bloom in Currais, Brazil: Phylogeny, Toxin Profile and Contamination of Mussels and Marine Plastic Litter

Abstract

Ostreopsis cf. ovata is a toxic marine benthic dinoflagellate responsible for harmful blooms affecting ecosystem and human health, mostly in the Mediterranean Sea. In this study we report the occurrence of a summer O. cf. ovata bloom in Currais, a coastal archipelago located on the subtropical Brazilian coast (~25° S). This bloom was very similar to Mediterranean episodes in many aspects: (a) field-sampled and cultivated O. cf. ovata cells aligned phylogenetically (ITS and LSU regions) along with Mediterranean strains; (b) the bloom occurred at increasing temperature and irradiance, and decreasing wind speed; (c) cell densities reached up to 8.0 × 104 cell cm−2 on fiberglass screen and 5.6 × 105 cell g−1 fresh weight on seaweeds; (d) and toxin profiles were composed mostly of ovatoxin-a (58%) and ovatoxin-b (32%), up to 35.5 pg PLTX-eq. cell−1 in total. Mussels were contaminated during the bloom with unsafe toxin levels (up to 131 µg PLTX-eq. kg−1). Ostreopsis cells attached to different plastic litter, indicating an alternate route for toxin transfer to marine fauna via ingestion of biofilm-coated plastic debris.

Keywords

• Harmful algal bloom
• benthic microalgae
• toxic dinoflagellates
• ovatoxin
• toxin transfer
• seafood safety
• marine pollution
• plastic litter
• biofilm formation