General Information

Event name: ES-03-005
Country: SPAIN
Nature of the harmful event:
Seafood toxins
Event directly affected:
Toxicity detected: Yes (Approximate range: 900 µg STXeq / 100 g. Meat)
Associated syndrome: PSP
Unexplained toxicity: No
Species implicated in toxin transmission (transvector):
Report the outcome of a monitoring programme: Yes (MONITORING PROGRAMME OF THE CENTRO DE CONTROL DO MEDIO MARIÑO)
Event occurred before in this location: Yes (Alexandrium minutum is a recurrent species in very located areas of Galicia in contrast to other HABs species in the region)
Individuals to contact: MANEIRO, Juan , PAZOS, Yolanda , MOROÑO, Ángeles

Location & Date

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Location: Latitude: 43.357333, Longitude: -8.236667
General location information: Rías of Viveiro, Ares-Betanzos, Camariñas, Es, Galicia, NW Spain.
HAB Area code(s): ES-05 ES-06 ES-08
Additional location information: 42º 08.22' - 43º 40.28' N; 08º 52.22' - 07º 35.51' W. The affected area is dedicated to intensive mussel cultivation in rafts and to a high production of other molluscs in natural banks: clams, cockles, oyster and scallops are the main species exploited.
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd): Event Date:2003-06-23
Start: 2003-06-03, End: 2003-07-29
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information:

Microalgae

Causative organism known: Yes
Causative Species/Genus: Alexandrium minutum (322,028 cells/L)
43º 21.44' N; 08º 14.20' W (St. L3) 23/06/03
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus: Skeletonema costatum (11,952,042 cells/L)
Scrippsiella spp. (51,975 cells/L)
Chaetoceros danicus (43,065 cells/L)
Chlorophyll concentration, if known: 2.8 µg/L Chlª. µg/l
Additional bloom information:
Event-related bibliography:

Environmental Conditions

Weather: Turbidity (NTU): Wind direction:
Stratified water: Yes Oxygen content (nL/L): Wind velocity: 32
Temperature (°C): 17.2 - 20.9 Oxygen saturation %: Current Direction:
Sechhi disk (m): Salinity: 33.2 - 34. Current Velocity: 0
Nutrient information: AMONIUM: nor available
NITRATE: not available
NITRITE: 0.21 µg/L
PHOSPHATE: 0.37 µg/L
Temperature Range During Event: Max: 20 °C, Min: 13 °C
Salinity Range During Event: Max: 36, Min: 30
Bloom location in the water column:
Growth:
In situ
Growth Comments
Additional Environmental information: Wind velocity: 32 Km/h.

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin Toxin type Toxin details Max. concentration Assay type
Raft cultured mussel (Mytilus galloprovincial Saxitoxins STX eq 124 Bioassay-Mouse
Wild mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) Saxitoxins STX eq 115 Bioassay-Mouse
Clams Saxitoxins STX eq 900 Bioassay-Mouse
Cockle (Cerastoderma edule) Saxitoxins STX eq 732 Bioassay-Mouse
Razor clam (Ensis siliqua) Saxitoxins STX eq 55 Bioassay-Mouse
Kit used: No Type of kit used:
Additional information: PSP AOAC Official Method, 1995.
Economic losses: Not evaluated
Management decision: Harvesting was closed in culture areas when .PSP toxins concentrations was over 80 µg STX eq /100 g wet weight.
Additional harmful effect information: Irrelevant effects, because the closures caused by this event were brief (two weeks maximum). Closures due to the presence of toxicity in molluscs is usual in the area and resource exploitation strategies allows to face these closures without great prob
IOC/UNESCO ISSHA
IOC/UNESCO ICES PICES