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Effects of the dinoflagellates Karlodinium veneficum and Prorocentrum minimum on early life history stages of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)

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Abstract

The bloom-forming dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum and Karlodinium veneficum can have detrimental effects on some marine life, including shellfish, but little is known about their effects on early life history stages of bivalves. In the Chesapeake Bay region, blooms of these dinoflagellates overlap with the spawning season of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. In laboratory experiments, we compared the effects of P. minimum and K. veneficum on the survival and development of embryos and larvae of the eastern oyster. At 104 cells ml−1, P. minimum did not have a negative effect on embryos and larvae in 2-day exposures. The yield of D-hinge larvae was equal to or greater than in control treatments. At 2 × 104 cells ml−1 (approximately equal biomass to the P. minimum treatment) K. veneficum caused significant mortality to oyster embryos within 1 day and almost no embryos developed into D-hinge larvae. This effect was not alleviated by the provision of an alternate food source (Isochrysis sp.). Significant mortality was observed when larvae were exposed to K. veneficum at concentrations of 104 cells ml−1 (approximately 5 ng ml−1 of karlotoxin). The K. veneficum cultures used in these experiments were relatively low in toxin content, more toxic strains could be expected to cause mortality at lower cell concentrations. Survival and maturation of embryos and larvae may be reduced when spawns of the eastern oyster coincide with high bloom densities of K. veneficum.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K. de la Cerda for her participation in the project, which was supported by a Chesapeake Teacher Research Fellowship, A. Padeletti for assistance in the oyster hatchery, J. Alexander for assistance with algal cultures, and G. H. Wikfors for advice and encouragement. Research conducted in summer 2006 was supported by the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Research Program—Non-native Oyster Initiative to UMCES (grant #NA05NMF4571234). Toxin analyses were supported by grants from NOAA Coastal Oceans Program (grant #NA04NOS4780276), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Grant #U50/CCU 323376) and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to University of Marine Biotechnology Institute. This is contribution number 4117 from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, contribution number 07-176 from the Center of Marine Biotechnology, and number 219 from the ECOHAB program.

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  1. Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, P.O. Box 475, Cambridge, MD, 21613, USA

    Diane K. Stoecker, Patricia M. Glibert & Donald W. Meritt

  2. Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 701 E. Pratt St., Baltimore, MD, 21202, USA

    Jason E. Adolf & Allen R. Place

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  1. Diane K. Stoecker
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  2. Jason E. Adolf
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Correspondence to Diane K. Stoecker.

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Communicated by B.S. Stewart.

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Stoecker, D.K., Adolf, J.E., Place, A.R. et al. Effects of the dinoflagellates Karlodinium veneficum and Prorocentrum minimum on early life history stages of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Mar Biol 154, 81–90 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0901-z

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