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Low abundance of the dinoflagellates,Pfiesteria piscicida, P. shumwayae, andCryptoperidiniopsis spp., in South Carolina tidal creeks and open estuaries |
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| Authors: | Alan J Lewitus Kenneth C Hayes Bonnie M Willis JoAnn M Burkholder Howard B Glasgow A Fred Holland Philip P Maier Parke A Rublee Robert Magnien |
| Institution: | 1. Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, 29422-2559, Charleston, South Carolina 2. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Marine Resources Research Institute, 29422-2559, Charleston, South Carolina 3. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, 29442, Georgetown, South Carolina 4. Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, 29442, Georgetown, South Carolina 6. Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, North Carolina State University, 27695-7612, Raleigh, North Carolina 7. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Marine Resources Research Institute, 29422-2559, Charleston, South Carolina 8. Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 27402-6174, Greensboro, North Carolina 9. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 580 Taylor Avenue, D-2, 21401, Annapolis, Maryland |
| Abstract: | The toxicPfiesteria complex are a group of dinoflagellates that have received considerable attention in recent years as causative factors in fish kill or lesion events in North Carolina estuaries and in the Pocomoke River of Chesapeake Bay. In response to the potentialPfiesteria threat, the South Carolina Task Group on Harmful Algae was formed in late 1997 and implemented programs to monitor harmful algal blooms and respond to fish kills or lesion events with particular emphasis on the Bushy Park (Cooper River, Charleston) region, a site of annually recurrent menhaden lesion events.Pfiesteria piscicida, Pfiesteria shumwayae, andCryptoperidiniopsis spp. were documented in South Carolina estuaries. Routine monitoring and fish kill or lesion event sampling consistently indicated low abundances compared to estimates from similar programs in North Carolina and Maryland that sampled areas with a history ofPfiesteria toxic activity. The finding thatPfiesteria-like organism (PLO) abundances were always low in samples collected during menhaden lesion events in Bushy Park suggested other causes for lesion progression, althoughPfiesteria spp. could not be ruled out as a factor in lesion initiation. Based on the previously demonstrated positive relationship between PLO abundance, chlorophylla, and inorganic nutrient concentrations (in laboratory experiments and North Carolina field observations), we hypothesized that the relatively low abundance ofPfiesteria spp. and other PLO (e.g.,Cryptoperidiniopsis) in South Carolina estuaries is related to the relatively low supply of phytoplankton prey, as supported by interstate comparisons in chlorophylla concentrations. Nitrate concentrations were generally much lower in South Carolina estuaries. Estuarine eutrophication may be an important consideration in explaining interstate differences in susceptibility toPfiesteria-related toxic events. |
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