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Benthic Herbivores are not Deterred by Brevetoxins Produced by the Red Tide Dinoflagellate Karenia Brevis

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Abstract

Gulf of Mexico blooms of the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis produce neurotoxic cyclic polyethers called brevetoxins. During and after a red tide bloom in southwestern Florida, K. brevis cells lyse and release brevetoxins, which then sink to the benthos and coat the surfaces of seagrasses and their epiphytes. We tested the possibility that these brevetoxin-laden foods alter the feeding behavior and fitness of a common benthic herbivore within Floridean seagrass beds, the amphipod Ampithoe longimana. We demonstrated that coating foods with K. brevis extracts that contain brevetoxins at post-bloom concentrations (1 μg g−1 drymass) does not alter the feeding rates of Florida nor North Carolina populations of A. longimana, although a slight deterrent effect was found at eight and ten-fold greater concentrations. During a series of feeding choice assays, A. longimana tended not to be deterred by foods coated with K. brevis extracts nor with the purified brevetoxins PbTx-2 and PbTx-3. Florida juveniles isolated with either extract-coated or control foods for 10 days did not differ in survivorship nor growth. A similar lack of feeding response to brevetoxin-laden foods also was exhibited by two other generalist herbivores of the southeastern United States, the amphipod A. valida and the urchin Arbacia punctulata. Given that benthic mesograzers constitute a significant portion of the diet for the juvenile stage of many nearshore fishes, we hypothesize that the ability of some mesograzers to feed on and retain brevetoxins in their bodies indicates that mesograzers may represent an important route of vertical transmission of brevetoxins through higher trophic levels within Gulf of Mexico estuaries.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Marie DeLorenzo, Spencer Fire, Hannah Giddens, Tod Leighfield, and Zhihong Wang for brevetoxin analyses, fruitful discussion or both. N.O. was supported by an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates fellowship (DBI-0552828) and the Department of Defense ASSURE Program. E.E.S. and A.M. were supported by a grant from NSF (OCE-0550245). This is Grice Marine Laboratory publication number 342 and NOAA CCEHBR CL-1460. The National Ocean Service does not approve, recommend or endorse any proprietary product or material mentioned in this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grice Marine Laboratory and Department of Biology, College of Charleston, 205 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC, 29412, USA

    Erik E. Sotka, Amanda McCarty & Nicole Oakman

  2. Marine Biotoxins Program, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC, USA

    Emily A. Monroe & Frances M. Van Dolah

  3. Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Emily A. Monroe & Frances M. Van Dolah

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  1. Erik E. Sotka
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  5. Frances M. Van Dolah
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Correspondence to Erik E. Sotka.

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Sotka, E.E., McCarty, A., Monroe, E.A. et al. Benthic Herbivores are not Deterred by Brevetoxins Produced by the Red Tide Dinoflagellate Karenia Brevis . J Chem Ecol 35, 851–859 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-009-9658-9

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