General Information

Event name: SV-13-001
Country: EL SALVADOR
Nature of the harmful event:
High Phyto concentration , Mass mortalities , Other ( odor descomposition)
Event directly affected:
Other Terrestrial
Toxicity detected: Yes (Approximate range: 116.11-730.00 micrograms SXT eq. / 100g)
Associated syndrome: PSP
Unexplained toxicity:
Species implicated in toxin transmission (transvector): Presumably, jellyfish.
Report the outcome of a monitoring programme: Yes (Permanent Monitoring of the Marine Environment. LABTOX-UES.)
Event occurred before in this location:
Individuals to contact: RUIZ-RODRIGUEZ, Gerardo , ALVARADO-CALLEJAS, Yaneth , AMAYA-MONTERROSA, Oscar

Location & Date

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Location: Latitude: 13.425556, Longitude: -89.261389
General location information: El Amatal and San Diego beaches, La Libertad Beaches
HAB Area code(s): ELS-02
Additional location information: The blooms occurs offshore. The MODIS satellite images showed high Chl concentrations offshore. Some fishermen saw intense red patches thousands nautical miles far away the coast line.
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd): Start: 2013-09-01, End: 2013-10-31
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information: Months when massive deaths appeared inshore

Microalgae

Causative organism known: No
Causative Species/Genus:
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus: Gymnodinium catenatum (5400 cells/L)
Cochlodinium polykrikoides (880 cells/L)
Gymnodinium sp. (480 cells/L)
cf. instriatum
Chlorophyll concentration, if known: 9.0 µg/l
Additional bloom information: The samples were colected 3 nautical miles offshore. Samples analyzed did not presented high phytoplankton concentration, however some PST-producing species were found. MODIS Satellite chlorophyll data showed high phytoplankton biomass, far away from sampling sites.
Event-related bibliography: Amaya, etal. "Saxitoxin analyses with a receptor binding assay (RBA) suggest PSP intoxication of seaturtles in El Salvador". HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS No 48/2014.

Environmental Conditions

Weather: Rainy season Turbidity (NTU): Wind direction: ENE
Stratified water: Yes Oxygen content (nL/L): 9.3 Wind velocity:
Temperature (°C): 30.5 Oxygen saturation %: Current Direction:
Sechhi disk (m): 5 - 15 Salinity: Current Velocity:
Nutrient information:
Temperature Range During Event: Max: 30.5 °C, Min: 28.5 °C
Salinity Range During Event: Max: 32.7 PSS, Min: 32.5 PSS
Bloom location in the water column:
Surface
Growth:
In situ
Growth Comments
Additional Environmental information: The conditions were measured at 9 meters deep in 3 different points. Data shared by CENDEPESCA.

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin Toxin type Toxin details Max. concentration Assay type
Crassostrea spp. (Whole tissue) Saxitoxins STX eq 0.583 µg/g Receptor Binding
Chelonia mydas (Intestine) Saxitoxins STX eq 7.300 µg/g Receptor Binding
Chelonia mydas (Liver) Saxitoxins STX eq 3.170 µg/g Receptor Binding
Chelonia mydas (Kidney) Saxitoxins STX eq 0.974 µg/g Receptor Binding
Chelonia mydas (Stomach) Saxitoxins STX eq 1.515 µg/g Receptor Binding
Kit used: No Type of kit used:
Additional information: Samples were analyzed in IAEA-MEL, NOAA and LABTOX-UES with comparative results.
Economic losses: While turtles appeared stranded, the fishermen attested -to LABTOX- a low fishery level. There is no official economic loss value.
Management decision: There was no fishing ban due the oysters' results were under the regulatory level: 80 micrograms of STX eq. / 100g.
Additional harmful effect information: Some fishermen attested -to LABTOX- that two dogs died after had eaten dead turtles
Created at 09:06 on 28 Oct 2015
Updated at 06:33 on 5 Jun 2019
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