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Algal Blooms of Heterosigma akashiwo and Mugilidae Gill Alterations

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Abstract

Harmful algal bloom events (HABs) of the raphidophyte, Heterosigma akashiwo, have increased in frequency and severity in some South African estuaries and have been observed in conjunction with substantial fish kills. The impact of H. akashiwo on wild fish populations is still unclear, despite being responsible for massive economic losses in the aquaculture industry globally. Thus, histopathological techniques were used to assess the impacts of H. akashiwo HABs on three species of Mugilidae (Chelon richardsonii, Mugil cephalus and Chelon dumerili) during an in situ cage study (stocking density of < 0.75 kg m−3) in the agriculturally influenced Sundays Estuary, which has predictable spring/summer blooming periods of H. akashiwo. It was hypothesised that fishes kept in mesocosms situated in the bloom area of the estuary would have higher blood plasma cortisol and glucose levels and have more deleterious gill alterations than fishes kept adjacent to the bloom area. Blood plasma cortisol, glucose and gill histological and morphological indices were similar between the HAB and control treatments but differed between bloom phases. The proportion of secondary lamellae available for gas exchange (PAGE index) was lower during trials that were in a hypereutrophic bloom phase (> 60 Chl-a µg.L−1) compared to the accumulation and decay phases. Gill histological alterations (HIGill index) were also more pronounced during the same trials. This study emphasises the need for further research including a toxicology study on the H. akashiwo strain, now common in some South African estuaries, to gain knowledge on the mechanisms by which H. akashiwo causes fish kills in order to protect the ecosystem services that estuaries provide.

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Funding

Funding was provided by the National Research Foundation of South Africa through the support of the DST/NRF Research Chair in Shallow Water Ecosystems (UID 84375).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 7700, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa

    Eugin Bornman & Nadine A. Strydom

  2. DST/NRF Research Chair in Shallow Water Ecosystems, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    Janine B. Adams

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  1. Eugin Bornman
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Correspondence to Eugin Bornman.

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Ethics Approval

The fishes in this study were treated in accordance with the Nelson Mandela University animal ethics code (A18-SCI-ZOO-003).

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The co-author, Nadine A. Strydom, is the M.Sc. supervisor of the first author and is an associate editor of Estuaries and Coasts. The authors declare no competing interests.

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Communicated by James L. Pinckney

Appendix

Appendix

Table 6 Variation in blood plasma cortisol (nmol L−1), glucose (nmol L−1), the proportion of secondary lamellae available for gas exchange (PAGE) and gill histopathological index (HIGill) between three species that were exposed to harmful algal bloom and control treatments over five trials, lasting 5 days in October to November 2018 in the Sundays Estuary (NA = no data available)
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Bornman, E., Adams, J.B. & Strydom, N.A. Algal Blooms of Heterosigma akashiwo and Mugilidae Gill Alterations. Estuaries and Coasts 45, 1674–1687 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-01038-6

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