First record of a fish-killing Gymnodinium sp. bloom in Kuwait Bay, Arabian Sea: chronology and potential causes

Abstract

Significant natural and aquaculture fish deaths in Kuwait Bay occurred from September to October of 1999 and were attributed to a bloom of the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium sp. A chronology of the bloom event suggests that a period of low winds and stable water-column structure preceded the bloom. Maximum cell concentrations of Gymnodinium sp. (> 6 × 10 6 cells l -1) were also immediately preceded by a more than 20-fold increase in mean inorganic nitrogen concentrations (up to 60 µM) and elevated inorganic phosphate concentrations. This, combined with elevated inorganic and organic nutrient concentrations within the bloom, suggests that coastal nutrient eutrophication was likely to have contributed significantly to bloom development and support. Termination of the Gymnodinium sp. bloom coincided with a bloom of the non-toxic ciliate Mesodinium rubrum, which appeared as large red patches in Kuwait Bay. While no adverse human health effects were associated with the bloom, closure of shellfish and selected finfish (largely mullet Liza macrolepis) markets resulted in significant economic losses to the region. The occurrence of this toxic algal bloom event, the first within the Arabian Sea, highlights the need for monitoring and research programs in the Arabian Sea and Kuwait Bay that focus on nutrients and eutrophication, in addition to oil related pollution issues.

Seasonal Variation of Cochlodinium polykrikoides in the North of Oman Sea (Iranian Waters)

“…Spatially in the eastern part of Oman Sea, the abundance was greater in the offshore zone, while in the western region, there was a greater abundance in the coastal zone. The outbreak of Cochlodinium poykrikoides was firstly observed in offshore waters before spreading into the coastal Cochlodinium polykrikoides, which was first recorded in this study area, had been reported previously in many Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippine and Malaysia [15][16][17][18].…”

Morphological characters of Chaetoceros lorenzianus (Bacillariophyceae) isolated from North Arabian Sea after Tasman Spirit oil spill

“…Moreover previous findings showed that Kuzmenko (1975), Tabassum & Saifullah (2010) observed 16 species of Chaetoceros in the month of February from Arabian Sea whereas seven species of this genus including C. lorenzianus were reported in the month of October from Kuwait Bay, Arabian Sea (Heil et al 2001). Present study manifests sporadic occurrence of the species in the month of November immediate after Tasman Spirit Oil Spill which may have attributed to the effect of oil spill in this area.…”

A Process for Harmful Algal Bloom Location Prediction Using GIS and Trend Analysis for the Terrestrial Waters of Kuwait

“…One of the earliest anecdotal sightings was by J. M. Al-Hassan in 1981 and1982, but the first scientific study of a HAB was carried out in 1987~ 1988(Subba Rao et al, 2003. The most detailed research studies carried out specifically in Kuwait Bay were in: September ~ October 1999 (Heil et al, 2001); July 2000 (Subba Rao et al, 2003); and August ~ September 2001 . Each sighting was observed over a period of several days, and in some cases this period overlapped into the following month.…”