Co-occurrence of Dinophysis tripos and pectenotoxins in Argentinean shelf waters

• Published in: Harmful algae Vol. 42; pp. 25 - 33
• Main Authors: Fabro, Elena, Almandoz, Gastón O., Ferrario, Martha E., Hoffmeyer, Mónica S., Pettigrosso, Rosa E., Uibrig, Román, Krock, Bernd
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Dinophysis acuminata; Dinophysis tripos; LC–MS/MS; Lipophilic toxins; Morphological variability; South Atlantic; Zooplankton bioaccumulation; South Atlantic; Dinophysis tripos; Lipophilic toxins; LC–MS/MS; Zooplankton bioaccumulation; Morphological variability
• ISSN: 1568-9883; 1878-1470
• DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2014.12.005

•First record of association between D. tripos and PTXs in Argentine Sea.•Presence of PTX-2sa, PTX-2 and PTX-11, but lack of OA or its analogs.•Analysis of lipophilic toxins performed by LC–MS/MS.•Dinophysis tripos morphology and variation in cell forms in Argentinean waters. The species Dinophysis tripos is a widely distributed marine dinoflagellate associated with diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP) events, which has been recently identified as a pectenotoxin (PTX) producer. In two sampling expeditions carried out during austral autumns 2012 and 2013 along the Argentine Sea (≈38–56°S), lipophilic phycotoxins were measured by tandem mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography (LC–MS/MS) in size-fractionated plankton samples together with microscopic analyses of potentially toxic phytoplankton. PTX-2, PTX-11 and PTX-2sa were recurrently detected in the 50–200μm fractions, in association to D. tripos. PTX-2 was also widely distributed among the 20–50μm fractions, mostly related to Dinophysis acuminata. Okadaic acid or its analogs were not detected in any sample. This is the first report of D. tripos related to PTX in the Argentine Sea and the first record of PTX-11 and PTX-2sa for this area. The morphological variability of D. tripos, including the presence of intermediate, small and dimorphic cells, is described. Also, the micro- and mesoplanktonic potential grazers of Dinophysis spp. were explored.