Temporal abundance patterns of the red tide dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans along the southeast coast of Australia

Dela-Cruz, Jocelyn; Ajani, Penelope; Lee, Randall; Pritchard, Tim; Suthers, Iain M.

doi:10.3354/meps236075

Cited by 56 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Many studies have shown that N. scintillans feeds mainly on phytoplankton, particularly diatoms (Schaumann et al, 1988;Umani et al, 2004;Harrison et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2016). N. scintillans blooms are also known to co-occur with diatom blooms Nakamura, 1998;Tiselius and Kiørboe, 1998;Dela-Cruz et al, 2002). Euplotes sp., which are in the ciliate order Hypotrichida, are common in both freshwater and marine habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the Silica Content of Diatoms on Protozoan Grazing

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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This study examined the effect that silica content in diatom cells has on the behavior of protists. The diatoms Thalassiosira weissflogii and T. pseudonana were cultured in high or low light conditions to achieve low and high silica contents, respectively. These cells were then fed to a heterotrophic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans and a ciliate Euplotes sp. in single and mixed diet experiments. Our results showed that in general, N. scintillans and Euplotes sp. both preferentially ingested the diatoms with a low silica content rather than those with a high silica content. However, Euplotes sp. seemed to be less influenced by the silica content than was N. scintillans. In the latter case, the clearance and ingestion rate of the low silica diatoms were significantly higher, both in the short (6-h) and long (1-d) duration grazing experiments. Our results also showed that N. scintillans required more time to digest the high silica-containing cells. As the high silica diatoms are harder to digest, this might explain why N. scintillans exhibits a strong preference for the low silica prey. Thus, the presence of high silica diatoms might limit the ability of the dinoflagellate to feed. Our findings suggest that the silica content of diatoms affects their palatability and digestibility and, consequently, the grazing activity and selectivity of protozoan grazers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the Silica Content of Diatoms on Protozoan Grazing

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…Temperatures ranging from (22~24) ℃ and (20~24) ℃ were also found to be optimum for Noctiluca at various regions (Uhlig and Shaling, 1985). Diatoms availability was found to be an important factor to generate the Noctiluca scintillans blooms as these blooms are documented to occur after diatom blooms (Dela-Cruz et al, 2002;Elbrächter and Qi, 1998;Tiselius and Kiorobe, 1998). However, we have not observed blooms of diatoms in this study prior to the Noctiluca scintillans blooms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Bay of Bandar Khyran, Sea of Oman with Special Reference to Harmful Algae

Al-Hashmi

Claereboudt²,

Al-Azri³

et al. 2012

ijms

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The abundance and community structure of the net phytoplankton at two locations in Bandar Khyran Bay were investigated for a period of one complete year. The study region hosts diverse assemblages of net phytoplankton and a total of 248 taxa were identified during the present study. The differences in the species composition of the phytoplankton communities at two locations are not significant while a large spatial and seasonal fluctuation of phytoplankton abundance was observed. These fluctuations are apparently driven by temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrient concentration. A minimum abundance of 96 cells/L was observed at OUT station during winter while during the same period it was 138 cells/L at IN station. The maximum counts of phytoplankton occurred in August (17 495 cells/L) at OUT but the maximum was observed at IN station in October (33 230 cells/L). In general, the dinoflagellates dominated the net phytoplankton during summer when the water temperature was above 28℃ while diatoms dominated during winter when the water temperature was below 26℃. Amongst the 248 taxa, 27 species (4 diatoms, 21 dinoflagellates, 1 cyanobacteria, 1 dictyochophyte) could be considered to be toxic or harmful in high concentrations. Blooms of the dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans were observed during the months of January and September. The increase in optimum biological and hydrographic factors play major role in the bloom formation of Noctiluca scintillans and its spatial distribution.

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“…The red tides have been observed over a wide range of the coast (30-36°S), although greater than 90% were observed off Sydney, Australia's largest city (Ajani et al, 2001;Dela-Cruz et al, 2003). Previous field studies have indicated that the abundance of Noctiluca in Sydney's coastal waters is highest during the spring and summer (Murray & Suthers, 1999;Dela-Cruz et al, 2002). Specifically, peaks in abundance were found to coincide with periods of upwelling, which stimulate blooms of phytoplankton that Noctiluca consumes (Dela-Cruz et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The study was conducted in the austral spring and summer, when the abundance of Noctiluca is relatively high (Murray & Suthers, 1999;Dela-Cruz et al, 2002), and also when the EAC has its strongest flows (Middleton et al, 1997). Samples were collected in November 1998 (austral spring) and January 1999 (austral summer), aboard two cruises on the National Facility Research Vessel, Franklin.…”

Section: Location and Time Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous field studies have indicated that the abundance of Noctiluca in Sydney's coastal waters is highest during the spring and summer (Murray & Suthers, 1999;Dela-Cruz et al, 2002). Specifically, peaks in abundance were found to coincide with periods of upwelling, which stimulate blooms of phytoplankton that Noctiluca consumes (Dela-Cruz et al, 2002). The incidence of upwelling events along the coast is determined by alongshore coastal winds and/or the strength of the poleward flowing East Australian Current (EAC; Middleton et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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The influence of upwelling, coastal currents and water temperature on the distribution of the red tide dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, along the east coast of Australia

2007

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Quasi-synoptic surveys along the east coast of Australia between 28 and 34°S show that the heterotrophic dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, occurs along this entire stretch of the coast. Areas of relatively high abundance of Noctiluca were observed downstream of regions predisposed to currentinduced upwellings as a consequence of alongshore topographic variations. High-resolution temporal and spatial sampling of upwelling events showed that Noctiluca was abundant (up to 28 cells l -1 ) within mature upwelled waters. A high proportion ([80%) of fed Noctiluca cells (cells with prey in their vacuoles) was observed in the mature upwelled waters indicating that the observed increase in abundance of Noctiluca was associated with increased feeding activity. The absolute abundance of Noctiluca in upwelled waters was, however, found to vary from one upwelling location to another and between seasons. In particular, highest abundances of Noctiluca were recorded south of 31.5°S, where the East Australian Current (EAC) characteristically separates from the coast. The high abundances partly arise from southward advection and retention of the Noctiluca cells, and partly from upwelling inshore of the separated EAC driven by cross-shelf boundary layer fluxes. The temperature of the EAC was also found to influence absolute abundances. Surface water temperatures during our summer cruise were anomalously high due to a strong La Niña phase, and up to 4°C warmer than during our spring cruise. We found that the warmer surface water temperatures were associated with relatively lower average abundances of Noctiluca in the near shore zone.

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Temporal abundance patterns of the red tide dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans along the southeast coast of Australia

Cited by 56 publications

References 22 publications

Effect of the Silica Content of Diatoms on Protozoan Grazing

Effect of the Silica Content of Diatoms on Protozoan Grazing

Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Bay of Bandar Khyran, Sea of Oman with Special Reference to Harmful Algae

The influence of upwelling, coastal currents and water temperature on the distribution of the red tide dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, along the east coast of Australia

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