Harmful Algal Information System: Event ES-04-004

General Information

Event name:	ES-04-004
Country:	SPAIN
Nature of the harmful event:	High Phyto concentration , Foam/Mucilage in the coast , Other ( People near the beach suffered respiratory problems)
Event directly affected:	Humans
Toxicity detected:	No
Associated syndrome:	OTHER
Unexplained toxicity:	No
Species implicated in toxin transmission (transvector):
Report the outcome of a monitoring programme:	Yes (1. EU Project STRATEGY EVK3-2001-00046. New strategy of monitoring and management of HABs in the Med)
Event occurred before in this location:	Yes (In August 1998 fauna and flora mortalities were documented at the same place (Llavaneres). In the water column we detected huge cell concentrations on Ostreopsis (200 000 cells/L) and Coolia sp. (8 000 cells/L).)
Individuals to contact:	VILA, Magda

Location:	Latitude: 41.556667, Longitude: 2.508333
General location information:	Llavaneres, Catalonia, NE Spain HAB Area code(s): ES-22
Additional location information:
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd):	Start: 2004-08-11,
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information:	During the same dates high cell concentrations (up to 100 000 cells/L) were also detected northward (Castell and Tossa de Mar) and southward (Sitges) of this locality. However, we don't have any knowledge on respiratory problems at those beaches.

Causative organism known:	Yes
Causative Species/Genus:	Ostreopsis siamensis (23,101 cells/L)
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus:
Chlorophyll concentration, if known:	µg/l
Additional bloom information:	We know from this incident due to an em¡pidemiologic study done by the Sanity Department because about 40 people in the beach suffered respiratory problems.During the days previous to the event, magroalgae floated on the water and white and brown scums we
Event-related bibliography:	Vila M, Garcés E, Masó M. Potentially toxic epiphytic dinoflagellate assemblages on macroalgae in the NW Mediterranean (2001). Aquat Mic Ecol, 26, 51-60. Penna A, Vila M, Fraga S, Giacobbe MG, Andreoni F, Riobó P, Vernesi C (2005). Characterization of Ostreopsis and Coolia (Dinophyceae) isolates in the Western Mediterranean sea based on morphology, toxicity and Internal Transcribed Spacer 5.8S rDNA sequences. J. Phycol., 41(1), 212-225.