Effects of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella on the behaviour and physiology of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis.

The effects of harmful algae on bivalve physiology are complex and involve both physiological and behavioural responses. Studying those responses is essential to better describe and predict their impact on shellfish aquaculture and health risk for humans. In this study we recorded for two months the physiological response of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis from Eastern Canada to a one-week exposure to a paralytic shellfish poisoning producing dinoflagellate strain of Alexandrium catenella, isolated from the St Lawrence estuary, Canada.

Multispecies mass mortality of marine fauna linked to a toxic dinoflagellate bloom.

Following heavy precipitation, we observed an intense algal bloom in the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) that coincided with an unusually high mortality of several species of marine fish, birds and mammals, including species designated at risk. The algal species was identified as Alexandrium tamarense and was determined to contain a potent mixture of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST).