Harmful Algal Information System: Event ES-02-004

General Information

Event name:	ES-02-004
Country:	SPAIN
Nature of the harmful event:	Seafood toxins
Event directly affected:
Toxicity detected:	Yes (Approximate range: DSP positive.)
Associated syndrome:	DSP
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 (The DSP episodes caused by Dinophysis acuminata are a recurrent phenomenom in the Galician Rías with more or less incidence depending on the year.)
Individuals to contact:	MANEIRO, Juan , PAZOS, Yolanda , SALGADO, Covadonga

Location & Date

[View larger map]

Location:	Latitude: 42.340000, Longitude: -8.791667
General location information:	Ría de Foz, Ría de Vicedo-Barqueiro, Ría de A, Galicia, NW Spain. HAB Area code(s): ES-05 ES-06 ES-07 ES-08
Additional location information:	43º 44' - 42º 08.22' N ; 07º 15' - 09º 59' 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:2002-09-23 Start: 2002-09-09, End: 2002-11-19
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information:

Microalgae

Causative organism known:	Yes
Causative Species/Genus:	Dinophysis acuminata (18,440 cells/L) 42º 20.40' N; 08º 47.50' W (St. P8) on 23/09/02
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus:	Rhizosolenia alata (62,640 cells/L) 42º 20.40' N; 08º 47.50' W (St. P8) on 23/09/02 Ceratium fusus (23,760 cells/L) Leptocylindrus danicus (6,960 cells/L)
Chlorophyll concentration, if known:	3.2 µg/L Chlª. µg/l
Additional bloom information:
Event-related bibliography:

Environmental Conditions

Weather:	Rainy.	Turbidity (NTU):		Wind direction:	WSW
Stratified water:	No	Oxygen content (nL/L):	5.9 - 6.7	Wind velocity:	24
Temperature (°C):	16.9 - 17.9	Oxygen saturation %:		Current Direction:
Sechhi disk (m):		Salinity:	34.9 - 35.	Current Velocity:	0

Nutrient information:

AMONIUM: 0.37 - 0.74 mg/L
NITRITE: 0.03 - 0.12 mg/L
PHOSPHATE: 0.27 - 0.42 mg/L

Temperature Range During Event:

Max: 19 °C, Min: 12 °C

Salinity Range During Event:

Max: 35, Min: 10

Bloom location in the water column:

Subsurface

Growth:

Advected
In situ

Growth Comments

Additional Environmental information:

Wind velocity: 24 Km/h.

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin	Toxin type	Toxin details	Max. concentration	Assay type
Raft cultured mussel (Mytilus galloprovincial	Okadaic Acid	OA eq	µg/g	Bioassay-Mouse
Wild mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)	Okadaic Acid	OA eq	µg/g	Bioassay-Mouse
Clams (Venerupis rhomboides)	Okadaic Acid	OA eq	µg/g	Bioassay-Mouse
Clams (Donax trunculus)	Okadaic Acid	OA eq	µg/g	Bioassay-Mouse
Cockles (Cerastoderma edule)	Okadaic Acid	OA eq	µg/g	Bioassay-Mouse

Kit used: No

Type of kit used:

Additional information:

The official detection method is by mouse bioassay: Yasumoto et al., Seafood toxins, 1984, 207-214. Some samples are analyzed by HPLC: Lee et al., Agric. Biol. Chem., 1987, 51, 877.

Economic losses:

Not evaluated.

Management decision:

Harvesting was closed in culture areas affected. Wild mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) are used as bioindicator for infaunal molluscs, then when assays are possitive for this species, infaunal molluscs are closed in that area.

Additional harmful effect information:

Closures due to the presence of toxicity in molluscs is usual in the area and resource explitation strategies allows to face these closures without great problems.