Front. Mar. Sci.Frontiers in Marine ScienceFront. Mar. Sci.2296-7745Frontiers Media S.A.10.3389/fmars.2019.00463Marine ScienceMini ReviewThe State of Knowledge of Harmful Algal Blooms of Margalefidinium polykrikoides (a.k.a. Cochlodinium polykrikoides) in Latin AmericaLópez-CortésDavid J.1†Núñez VázquezErick J.12*Dorantes-ArandaJuan J.3Band-SchmidtChristine J.4Hernández-SandovalFrancisco E.1Bustillos-GuzmánJosé J.1Leyva-ValenciaIgnacio5Fernández-HerreraLeyberth J.41Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, Mexico2Investigación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo, La Paz, Mexico3Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia4Instituto Politécnico Nacional-Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, La Paz, Mexico5CONACyT, Instituto Politécnico Nacional-Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, La Paz, Mexico
Edited by: Angel Borja, Centro Tecnológico Experto en Innovación Marina y Alimentaria (AZTI), Spain
Reviewed by: Maximo Jorge Frangopulos, University of Magallanes, Chile; Kyoko Yarimizu, National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Japan
*Correspondence: Erick J. Núñez-Vázquez, enunez04@cibnor.mx
†Deceased
This article was submitted to Marine Ecosystem Ecology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Marine Science
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The marine dinoflagellate Margalefidinium polykrikoides is a harmful species that has affected aquaculture, fisheries and tourism activities. It produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as hemolytic and neurotoxic-like substances that have been associated with mass mortalities of marine organisms. It has a tropical and subtropical distribution that has mainly affected Asia and North America. The economic impacts for aquaculture industries have been estimated to be up to US$140M. In Latin America, no economic estimates have been performed. Harmful algal blooms by M. polykrikoides are more frequent in Mexico and Central America. Proliferations of this dinoflagellate are associated with winds, upwelling, convergence areas, local convection of seawater, and eutrophication of coastal areas by nitrogen and phosphorus compounds from rainwater runoff, as well as agricultural and aquaculture activities, into coastal waters. Eco-physiological and toxicological studies have provided detailed descriptions of the growth of algal strains from these regions and the harmful effects on fish and shrimp, as well as the role the production of ROS and polyunsaturated fatty acids in their toxicity. It is also possible that M. polykrikoides has an ecological role in the regulation of blooms of other harmful algae. In this contribution, we review the records of harmful algal blooms of M. polykrikoides in Latin America and the research that has been conducted with this species.
dinoflagellatesMargalefidinium polykrikoidesCochlodinium polykrikoidesHABLatin AmericaIntroductionGlobal Harmful Algal Blooms of M. polykrikoides
Margalefidinium polykrikoides (=Cochlodinium polykrikoides) is a photosynthetic and mixotrophic marine dinoflagellate that forms cysts. It forms harmful algal blooms (HABs), causing economic losses in fish farming areas (US$140M in world wide; Dorantes-Aranda, 2012) mainly in Asia (Kim, 1998; Kim et al., 1999; Zhong and Gobler, 2009). M. polykrikoides was first identified in Phosphorescent Bay, Puerto Rico by Margalef (1961), and since then Margalefidinium blooms have been reported across Asia, Europe and North America. In the last three decades, Margalefidinium HABs have impacted coastal regions of Australia, Canada, China, Croatia, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United States (Kudela and Gobler, 2012). The largest bloom recorded occurred in the Arabian Gulf from August to October 2008 affecting 1,200 km of coastline, killing wild, and farmed fish as well as damaging coral reefs (Richlen et al., 2010). A wide variety of harmful substances have been reported for this species (Figure 1), including reactive oxygen species (ROS) (superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical), hemolytic and neurotoxic-like substances, hemagglutinins, and free polyunsaturated fatty acids (Onoue and Nozawa, 1989; Hallegraeff, 1992; Lee, 1996; Landsberg, 2002; Jeong et al., 2004; Dorantes-Aranda et al., 2009, 2010). The genus Cochlodinium was established in the late nineteenth century with the identification of C. strangulatum (Schütt, 1895), and the first record of this genus in the Gulf of California occurred in 1942 (Osorio-Tafall, 1943). Recently, C. polykrikoides was re-assigned to the new genus Margalefidinium and renamed as M. polykrikoides (Gómez et al., 2017). In North America, HABs of M. polykrikoides have been observed in Canada and the US with impacts on fish and shellfish industries (Whyte et al., 2001; Gobler et al., 2008, 2012; Tomas and Smayda, 2008; Mulholland et al., 2009; Zhong and Gobler, 2009; Griffith et al., 2019). The damage by a M. polykrikoides bloom in Canada was estimated in a loss of US$2M in 1999 (Whyte et al., 2001). In Latin America (LA) there are no estimates of the economic losses caused by this dinoflagellate. The purpose of this work is to review the HABs of M. polykrikoides and the impacts they have caused in LA by country.
(a) Microscopic image (63×) of Margalefidinium polykrikoides in culture (chain of two cells), isolated from Bahía de La Paz, Gulf of California, Mexico. Scale bar = 10 μm. (b) HABs records of M. polykrikoides in coastal waters of Latin America. (c) Suggested route of ichthyotoxicity caused by M. polykrikoides: fish gills are impacted when algal cells in the water lyse, releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free polyunsaturated fatty acids that cause lipid peroxidation and physiological disturbances leading to fish mortality (modified after Hallegraeff et al., 2017).
MexicoGulf of California
M. polykrikoides was first observed in Bahía de Mazatlán, Sinaloa, in spring of 1979 proliferating together with Gymnodinium catenatum. It was suggested that M. polykrikoides HABs are commonly formed in Bahía de Mazatlán during winter and early spring coinciding with the upwelling of cold waters in the region (Morey-Gaines, 1982; Cortés-Altamirano, 1987). From September to October 2000, M. polykrikoides was present during 22 days causing a notable odor and fish mortalities (Cortés-Altamirano and Gómez-Aguirre, 2001; Cortés-Altamirano et al., 2002; Table 1). Fish kills were also reported in 2003 and 2012 (Cortés-Altamirano et al., 2019). A record of HABs in Bahía de Mazatlán between 1979 and 2014 by Cortés-Altamirano et al. (2019) revealed that this species forms blooms during summer and fall when El Niño exerts its inhibitory effect. This dinoflagellate has also been reported forming blooms in shrimp farming ponds and coastal lagoons of Sinaloa with adverse effects such has fish, oysters and octopus mortality, as well as skin hyperpigmentation in swimmers (Alonso-Rodríguez et al., 2004, 2008). Despite the occurrence of mortalities, the economic impacts of these blooms have not been determined.
Events of harmful algal blooms by the ichthyotoxic dinoflagellate Margalefidinium polykrikoides in Latin America.
Country and region
Date
Number of cells (cell L–1)
Temperature (°C)
Impact
References
Mexico
Bahía de Mazatlán
April 1985
5.0 × 105
∼20.0
Mortality of fish, crustaceans and annelids
Cortés-Altamirano, 1987
September–October 2000
8.9 × 105 to 3.4 × 106
No data
Fish mortality
Cortés-Altamirano and Gómez-Aguirre, 2001
2003 and 2012
No data
No data
Fish kill
Cortés-Altamirano et al., 2019
Bahía de Manzanillo
March, April, and May 1999
No data
23.0–25.0
Foam accumulation
Morales-Blake et al., 2000
March–April 2000
3.2 × 106
21.2–25.5/34.5–34.6
No data
Morales-Blake et al., 2001
Puerto de Manzanillo
March–May 2007
4.0 × 103
24.8–32.6
No data
González-Chan et al., 2007
Bahía de Banderas
October–November 2001
3.0 × 106 to 1.1 × 106
No data
Fish mortality. Skin irritation, excess of nasal mucosa, eyes, and dermatitis in humans
Cortés-Lara, 2002
July–December 2000
10.8 × 106
25.0–32.0/33–35
Fish mortality. Impact in tourist activities
Cortés-Lara et al., 2004
2000–2001
7.0 × 103–1.2 × 106 1.0 × 106
No data
No data
Gómez-Villarreal et al., 2008
Ensenada de La Paz, Bahía de La Paz
15–28 September 2000
3.6 × 105 to 7.0 × 106
29.0–321.50
Fish mortality
Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 2000; Núñez-Vázquez et al., 2003; Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 2004
Ensenada de La Paz, Bahía de La Paz
September 2000
3.6 × 105 to 7.0 × 106
20.0–32.5
Fish mortality
Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 2004
Bahía de La Paz
April–June 2006, April 2007
3.6 × 105 to 8.0 × 109
20.0–26.0 and 29.0–31.0
Fish mortality
Gárate-Lizárraga and Muñetón-Gómez, 2008
Bahía de La Paz
August 16–17, 2012
0.073–1.4 × 106
29.0–30.0
No impact
Gárate-Lizárraga, 2013
Ensenada de La Paz, Bahía de La Paz
September–November 2012
6.2 × 105–8.6 × 106
30.3–31.3/35.2–36.8
No impact
López-Cortés et al., 2014
Bahía de Acapulco
March 1999–October 2008
0.7–7.8 × 104 to 8.2 × 106
25.0–29.0
No impact
Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 2009
Cuba
Bahía de Santiago
April–May 2005
No data
No data
Mortality of juvenile wild fishes
Gómez et al., 2007
Channels of Marine Hemingway in Havana
September 2015
1.8 × 106 to 7.5 × 105
No Impact
Guatemala
Guatemala Coast
May 28, 2004
9.6 × 105
30.3–32.7
Fish mortality
Carrillo-Ovalle et al., 2007
January 8–29 2007
6.9 × 106
28.0
Fish mortality
El Salvador
Punta Roca and Puerto de Punta Libertad
March 2012
2.1 × 108
28.5–34.8
Fish mortality, putrid odors, headache to tourists and local people
Espinoza et al., 2013
La Libertad
October 2013
No data
No data
Massive sea turtle mortality
Amaya et al., 2014
Costa Rica
Gulf of Nicoya
February–March 1979
80.0 × 106
28.0/32.2
Co-occurring with other toxic species, damage to human health, such as…
Hargraves and Víquez, 1981
Gulf of Nicoya
June–November 1986
2.2 × 106
26.0–31.0
Mortality of fish and coral
Guzmán et al., 1990; Víquez and Hargraves, 1995
Isla Caño
July 12, 1985
8.3 × 105
Pacific Coast
November 2000–December 2001
14.4 × 106
No data
Co-occurring with others toxic species, impact fisherman’s economy
Valverde, 2002
Pacific Coast
May 2002
1.2 × 105
No data
Fish mortality
Vargas-Montero and Freer, 2004
Pacific coast
January 2003–June 2004
1.7 × 108
No data
Fish mortality
Vargas-Montero et al., 2006
Pacific coast
April 2004
3.8 × 108
No data
Fish mortality, foam formation on the beach
Vargas-Montero et al., 2008
Gulf of Nicoya
January 2008–December 2010
11.7 × 106
26.6–28.7/27.9–31.4
Unpleasant odor, sickness and vomiting in children
Calvo et al., 2016
Colombia
Caribe, Bahía de Santa María
October 2010 and November 2011
5.0 × 106
29.0–31.0/∼20.0–33.0
No impact
Malagón and Perdomo, 2013
2010–2017
No data
No data
No impact
Cuellar-Martínez et al., 2018
Ecuador
Puerto bolívar
February 1992
5.2 × 106
No data
No data
Torres-Zambrano, 2000
Estero salado
1993
Guayas river
June 1999
Peru
Bahía de Sechura
February 2010, May 2014
9.6 × 105
17.1–23.3/32.8
No data
Orozco et al., 2017
An outbreak of this dinoflagellate was reported for the first time in Bahía de La Paz, in the southern part of the Gulf of California, in September 2000 (Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 2000). Chlorophyll a concentrations ranged from 2.7 to 56.8 mg L−1. Gárate-Lizárraga et al. (2004) described another bloom in this bay in November 2000. The bloom emerged after 2 days of heavy rain and wind coinciding with an increase in nutrient concentrations (Table 1). Another bloom occurred in September-November 2001, which extended outside the bay probably a result of Hurricane Juliette; mortalities of 166 fish (76 adults and 90 sub-adults fish) were observed in ponds, including the species Lutjanus peru (n = 102), Pomadasys macracanthus (n = 60), and L. argentiventris (n = 4), with abundant cells of M. polykrikoides observed in the gills (Núñez-Vázquez et al., 2003; Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 2004; Figure 2). Muciño-Márquez (2010) also reported M. polykrikoides near tuna pens in Bahía de la Paz in September 2006, however, no adverse effects were reported.
(A) Satellite images showing chlorophyll a concentration in mgChla m–3 in December 2001. Dotted box corresponds to Bahía de La Paz and Bahía de Banderas, some of these blooms could have been formed by M. polykrikoides. Maps from SeaWiFS level 3 images. The bottom left image shows fish kills of Pacific red snappers (Lutjanus peru) in culture ponds caused by M. polykrikoides in Bahía de La Paz in 2001–2002. (B) Brown coloration of the sea surface created by M. polykrikoides in Bahía de la Paz (2016).
López-Cortés et al. (2014) followed the development of a bloom of M. polykrikoides in Bahía de La Paz from the beginning (September) to its decay (October) in 2012. This event reached a maximum cell density of 8.6 × 106 cell L–1, with a chlorophyll a content of 121.2 mg m–3 and peridinin of 40.2 mg m–3, coinciding with a N:P (nitrogen:phosphorus) ratio of 2:3. This event was associated with NNE winds and rain, which may have contributed to the enrichment of nutrients in the water column; the direction of the wind changed to the SE, and its intensity decreased to <1.3 m s–1, which was when the bloom appeared. No mortality of marine organisms were observed during this period. According to Gárate-Lizárraga (2013) and López-Cortés et al. (2014), recurrent blooms of M. polykrikoides in this bay are associated with the mixing of the water column and upwelling of deep waters.
Mexican Pacific
The first record of M. polykrikoides was recorded in Bahía de Manzanillo, Colima in 2000 (López, 2000; Morales-Blake et al., 2001). Another extensive bloom by Margalefidinium sp. was reported during late winter and early spring of 1999, where the paralytic toxin producing dinoflagellate G. catenatum was also found. However, no impacts in wildlife were reported (Morales-Blake et al., 2000). Another event was recorded in this bay between March and May in 2007, involving again several HAB species such as Akashiwo sanguinea, Karenia mikimotoi, G. catenatum as well as M. polykrikoides. This event was associated with upwelling of deep waters (González-Chan et al., 2007).
The most extensive bloom by M. polykrikoides (1.1 × 106–3.0 × 106 cell L–1) reported in Mexico lasted 12 weeks (September to November 2000), affecting 63 km of coastline in Bahía de Banderas. This event impacted tourism activities in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit, respectively (Cortés-Lara et al., 2004). Another M. polykrikoides bloom was reported in the area the following year (Cortés-Lara, 2002). Cortés-Lara (2002) mentioned that the phenomenon remained for 5 months in Puerto Vallarta causing mortality of eels, octopuses, and 13 species of fish, including flounders, sardines, snappers and puffers. Gómez-Villarreal et al. (2008) monitored HABs in Bahía Banderas using satellite images during 2000 and 2001 (Figure 2). High chlorophyll a levels were associated with blooms of M. polykrikoides during the summer-fall season, which were more intense in 2000 than in 2001, with a range in cell abundances from 7 × 103 to 1.2 × 106 cell L–1 in 2000, and an average cell abundance of 1 × 106 cell L–1 in 2001.
Gárate-Lizárraga and Muñetón-Gómez (2008) reported mortalities of farmed tuna in Bahía Magdalena, B.C.S associated with M. polykrikoides and reported that this dinoflagellate is distributed from Ensenada, B.C. to the coasts of Oaxaca. Gárate-Lizárraga et al. (2009) also reported HAB events of M. polykrikoides and G. catenatum in Bahía de Acapulco. Both species were recorded from December 2005 to December 2007. The abundance of M. polykrikoides ranged from 39 × 103 cell L–1 in January 2008 to 8,228 × 103 cell L–1 in December 2005, within a thermal range of 25–29°C; however, no mortalities of marine organisms were observed. Maciel-Baltazar and Hernández-Becerril (2013) reported this species in 2009 for the first time in the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
Recently, Fimbres-Martínez et al. (2018), Fimbres-Martínez (2019) described the presence of Margalefidinium sp. and raphidophytes of the genera Chattonella, Heterosigma and Fibrocapsa in Bahía de Todos Santos, in the northern Pacific of Mexico, which were the suspected cause of mortalities of farmed tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in this region (García-Mendoza et al., 2018).
Experimental Studies
During the last decade, efforts have been directed toward the isolation of strains from Bahía de La Paz to study their ecology and toxicology. Growth rates calculated for these strains varied between 0.11 and 0.39 div day–1 with maximum biomasses of 7.1 ± 0.5 and 9.4–11.0 × 106 cell L–1 using modified GSe and GSe media (Dorantes-Aranda et al., 2009, 2010; Zumaya-Higuera, 2017). Some authors have suggested that M. polykrikoides is an invasive species that has been transported by seawater currents and ship ballast water (Sierra-Beltrán et al., 2001; Cortés-Altamirano et al., 2006; Meave del Castillo, 2014; Páez-Osuna et al., 2017). However, the sequences of strains isolated from Bahía de La Paz were identical to that of American and Malaysian strains (Zumaya-Higuera, 2017).
Núñez-Vázquez et al. (2003) observed that fish juveniles of Mugil sp. died when exposed to M. polykrikoides at a cell abundance of 4.1 × 106 cell L–1. However, cell extracts showed no toxicity by mouse bioassay and did not have adverse effects on juvenile shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. However, Pérez-Morales et al. (2017) reported 100% mortality of L. vannamei zoea larvae after exposing them for 120 h to cells of M. polykrikoides (3.0 × 106 cell L–1). Dorantes-Aranda et al. (2010), also observed 100% mortality of the spotted rose snapper Lutjanus guttatus after exposure to ≥3.0 × 106 cell L–1 of M. polykrikoides. Fish showed loss of balance, breathing difficulty, oxidative stress in gill lamellae and liver, abnormal production of mucus and asphyxiation, suggesting that the production of ROS by the dinoflagellate caused oxidative damage that lead to their death. In a complimentary study, the same authors observed that extracts from 5.2 × 106M. polykrikoides cell L–1 and 27.0 × 106 cell L–1 caused 50% hemolysis in L. guttatus and human erythrocytes, respectively. The authors also reported hexadecaenoic (16:0), docosahexaenoic (22:6n3), and octadecapentanoic (18:5n3) as the most abundant fatty acids (Dorantes-Aranda et al., 2009). The latter fatty acid has also been found in other nocive microalgae showing fish cell toxicity, suggesting that it plays a key role in the ichthyotoxicity caused by microalgae (Dorantes-Aranda et al., 2009; Mooney et al., 2011). The possible ichthyotoxic pathway of M. polykrikoides is shown in Figure 1c, as suggested by Hallegraeff et al. (2017).
Allelopathy of M. polykrikoides has been demonstrated by exposing cells and filtrates of M. polykrikoides to live cells of G. catenatum. M. polykrikoides caused cell damage to G. catenatum, such as detachment of the membrane, deformation, prominent nuclei, loss of flagella, and lysis, suggesting that M. polykrikoides could inhibit or regulate the growth of G. catenatum in the natural environment (Zumaya-Higuera, 2017).
Caribbean and Central AmericaCuba
M. polykrikoides proliferated in Bahía de Santiago in April and May 2005 covering an area of 0.8 km2. The HAB was short (4 days), however, it caused mortality of wild juvenile fish (Mujil curema, Opisthonema oglinum, Acanthurus chirurgus, Haemulon spp.) and crabs (Callinectes sapidus). During the bloom, cysts and high cell concentrations were recorded (Table 1; Gómez et al., 2007). Another bloom occurred in the channels of the Marina Hemingway in Havana in September 2015. A cell concentration of 1.8 × 106 cell L–1 was reported, and the bloom declined after 2 days of torrential rain, decreasing to 7.5 × 105 cell L–1. No impact on wildlife was reported (Delgado et al., 2016).
Guatemala to Nicaragua
A HAB of M. catenatum was recorded for the first time in Guatemala in 2004, which lasted 32 days and occurred from May to June. Toward the end of the bloom, on the 23rd of June, samples for species identification and cell density were obtained that contained 9.6 × 105 cell L–1 which explained the abnormal values of chlorophyll a (>30 mg m–3) observed in satellite images (Carrillo-Ovalle et al., 2007). High chlorophyll a levels (10–39 mg m–3) were also found off the coast of Honduras, El Salvador and the Gulf of Fonseca (gulf shared between El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua). Rain contributed to high nutrient concentrations (Table 1), and the water temperature was 30.3°C. A second event was recorded in January 2007 with a higher cell concentration (6.9 × 106 cell L–1). This bloom occurred at a lower temperature (28°C) during the influence of coastal water upwelling. Wild fish mortalities were observed during both events (Carrillo-Ovalle et al., 2007).
El Salvador
Espinoza et al. (2013), documented a bloom of M. polykrikoides off the coast of El Salvador in March 2012, with a maximum cell density of 2.1 × 108 cell L–1. The bloom was 3 km wide and 13 km long, and mortality of benthic fish, bad odor and severe headaches in tourists and local residents were reported. The major tourist season in El Salvador is from March to April, however, no economic losses were estimated for this event. Mass sea turtle mortalities occurred in La Libertad in October 2013 (Amaya et al., 2014). PSP toxins were detected in turtle tissues as well as in oysters. Although the most abundant species during this event was G. catenatum, other species such as P. bahamense, A. monilatum, and M. polykrikoides were also reported. In July 2017 a mixed bloom caused by M. polykrikoides and Scripsiella trochoidea affected several coastal areas of El Salvador (Ochoa-Arguello, 2017). During this event, a sanitary closure was applied.
Costa Rica and Panama
A bloom of M. polykrikoides reported as M. catenatum occurred in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica in February-March 1979 with a width of 200 m and length of 2–3 km. A strain was isolated from this event and growth rate of 0.3 div day–1 was estimated. The maximum abundance of cells during the event was 80.0 × 106 cell L–1 (Hargraves and Víquez, 1981; Table 1).
An annual monitoring program of harmful dinoflagellates was conducted in the middle and upper Gulf of Nicoya between January 1985 and March of 1986. HABs of M. polykrikoides were commonly observed in the lower gulf between June and October, mainly during the rainy season. The highest abundance of M. polykrikoides was 5.0 × 106 cell L–1 during this period (Víquez and Hargraves, 1995). Ramírez et al. (1989) suggested that the decline of anchovy eggs in the estuary of Punta Morales recorded was caused by a red tide near the estuary in August 1985 (Table 1).
In the second half of 1985, in Panama (Caño Island, Costa Rica, and Uva Island), mass mortalities of reef fish, invertebrates and corals were associated with a bloom of M. catenatum and Gonyaulax monilata. In Caño Island, a coral mortality up to 100% was observed between the surface and 3 m of depth. The species most affected were Pocillopora elegans and the zooxantella Tubastrea coccinea. Additionally, hundreds of fish of the family Scarideae, Balistidae, Acanthuridae, Pomancentridae, and Tetraodontidae; hermit crabs, brachyuran crabs and gastropods. In Uva Island, 13% mortality of Pocillopora spp. occurred. Mucus adhesion to polyps and interference with the expansion of polyps appeared to be the cause of coral mortality (Guzmán et al., 1990). Valverde (2002) reported a toxic bloom of Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum, G. catenatum, and M. polykrikoides, on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica from late November 2000 to December 2001 (Table 1). No impact was observed when the abundance of cells of M. polykrikoides reached 14.4 × 106 cell L–1. Vargas-Montero and Freer (2004) reported a bloom in Puntarenas and Caldera beach in the Gulf of Nicoya in May 2002 (1.2 × 105 cell L–1). This event was dominated by M. polykrikoides and the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium erythraeum. Large fish died, and deformity of fish larvae was also observed.
M. polykrikoides bloomed again on the Pacific region of Costa Rica between January 2003 and June 2004. Cell abundance was 1.7 × 108 cell L–1 (Table 1), and cysts were also observed in October 2003 (Vargas-Montero et al., 2006). The following bloom, in January 2004, covered an area of 50 km2 and in April of the same year a high number of cells were also found (3.8 × 108 cell L–1). During these events, corals died and fish mortalities of the families Carangidae, Lutjanidae, Muraenidae, Engraulidae, and the Solidae occurred (Vargas-Montero et al., 2006). M. polykrikoides commonly bloomed in this region with low abundance of other dinoflagellate species such as Ceratium dens, Gonyaulax spinifera, Heterocapsa sp., Mesodinium rubrum, P. bahamense var. compressum and the cyanobacterium T. erytraeum. Vargas-Montero et al. (2006, 2008) concluded that northeaster winds may be the most influential factor in the formation of HABs of M. polykrikoides in Costa Rica.
A total of 11 HABs of different species of dinoflagellates were reported in the Gulf of Nicoya from 2008 to 2010. Of these, eight were observed during the rainy season (May to November) and three during the dry season (December to April) (Calvo et al., 2016). Authors emphasize that the most impacting HAB occurred in September 2010, when 16 phytoplankton species were observed, with M. polykrikoides as the dominant species, occurring during a La Niña event. Heavy rain contributed to the enrichment of nutrients in the Gulf of Nicoya, as a result of runoff discharges of the rivers Tempisque and Grande de Tárcoles.
South AmericaVenezuela
Only one report exists on a bloom of Margalefidinium sp. on the coast of Sucre, Venezuela, which occurred in August 1977. Cells of Margalefidinium were found in the digestive tract of the mussel Perna perna. During this bloom, Gonyaulax tamarensis var. excavate (=Alexandrium catenella) and Noctiluca miliaris were also observed, and the presence of paralytic shellfish toxins were detected in mussels, which were associated with human intoxications (Reyes-Vásquez et al., 1979).
Colombia
A bloom of M. polykrikoides was recorded for the first time in Bahía de Santa María, in the Colombian Caribbean in October and November 2010. The maximum density was 5.0 × 106 cell L–1, and the event covered an area of 6 km2, however, no impact on fauna was observed (Malagón and Perdomo, 2013). The key factor for the proliferation was the contribution of terrestrial nutrients during the rainy season. This bloom coincided with SSE and SE winds during the day, and NNW and NW during the night. Cuellar-Martínez et al. (2018) reported two more blooms in the same bay between 2010 and 2017 with no harmful effects.
Ecuador
HABs are frequent in Ecuador, more commonly in the Gulf of Guayaquil. There have also been reports of blooms in the southern part of the Santa Elena peninsula, Manglar alto, Manta, Cojimies and in the Galápagos Islands. One of the most frequent and abundant species is Margalefidinium sp., which bloomed in Puerto Bolívar (March 1992), Estero Salado (March 1993), and Guayas river in June 1999, reaching a maximum cell abundance in Guayas River of 5.2 × 106 cell L–1 (Torres-Zambrano, 2000). The high frequency of HABs in the Gulf of Guayaquil is associated with poor water quality due to mangrove removal, ship traffic, shrimp farming, population increase, combined with El Niño events.
Peru
Individual blooms of A. sanguinea, M. rubrum, Protoceratium minimum, and M. polykrikoides occurred in Bahía de Pisco in February 2010 and May 2014. These events were associated with upwelling of deep waters, with a temperature range from 17.1 to 23.3°C. The bacteria Vibrio alginolyticus, V. metschmicovich, V. vulfenicus, and V. parahaemolyticus were isolated during the bloom. A strain of V. parahaemolyticus was virulent and a public health event with diarrhetic symptoms was associated with the bacteria (Orozco et al., 2017).
Conclusion
The toxic dinoflagellate M. polykrikoides is wide spread in Latin American coastal waters. It has formed recurrent blooms that have been documented mainly in Mexico and Central American countries. M. polykrikoides has been able to proliferate in a wide temperature range (17–32°C), and has affected several marine organisms, including fish, crabs, corals, shrimp, eels, octopuses, and gastropods. Blooms of M. polykrikoides in Latin America have been associated with periods of heavy rain that cause an increase in nutrients in coastal waters due to runoff from rivers. Moreover, coastal upwellings associated with wind patterns, mixing of the water column and rain, all of which can create nutrient enrichment of surface waters, seem to favor proliferation and recurrence of this dinoflagellate. Although significant economic losses have been reported in other countries due to the negative impacts of M. polykrikoides, this information is still lacking in Latin America, possibly due to scarce socioeconomic studies. A continuous monitoring program is required to obtain information, during and after bloom occurrence. Also, data of cyst beds should be included to generate ecological information that can provide the opportunity to evaluate the potential impacts on fisheries and aquaculture. Especially to address the economic and social repercussions that HABs may have, given the recent experience of two continuous blooms created by Pseudochattonella verruculosa and Alexandrium catenella in Chile in 2016 that caused economic losses of US$800M, creating unemployment and social riots triggered by protests (Mascareño et al., 2018). Mitigation approaches for HABs of this dinoflagellate are also a subject not yet investigated in Latin America. The higher amount of reports from Mexico might be because this country possesses a longer coastal area, as well as having a high number of experts on harmful algae, or simply because M. polykrikoides has formed more blooms in the Mexican coastline than in other Latin America countries. The presence of Margalefidinium as well as other species of marine fish-killing microalgae in Latin America will require constant monitoring mainly in fish-growing areas to avoid severe economic impacts, such as the recent cases in Chile and Mexico (Clement et al., 2016; García-Mendoza et al., 2018; León-Muñoz et al., 2018; Mardones et al., 2019).
Author Contributions
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
We thank the institutional projects PAC (Planeación Ambiental y Conservación) of the CIBNOR, to G. Hernández-García end edition of figures (CIBNOR), Dr. J. L. Peña-Manjarrez (CETMAR-DGECyTM, SEP, Ensenada) for the satellite image HAB of the M. polykrikoides, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN Grant SIP 2019–5649), and Don Johnson, Ph.D. for improving the language part of the manuscript. We are grateful to the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (FORDECyT Grant 260040), and RedFAN-CONACyT. CB-S is a COFFA-IPN and EDI fellow. We also thank the reviewers for the suggestions provided during editing of this manuscript.
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