Karenia Brevis: Adverse Impacts on Human Health and Larger Marine Related Animal Mortality from Red Tides
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Karenia brevis: Adverse Impacts on Human Health and Larger Marine Related Animal Mortality from Red Tides Vickie Vang Environmental Studies 190 12/14/2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 3 BIOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Genus Karenia .................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Vertical Migratory .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Temperature and Salinity ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Nourishment .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Brevotoxin ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ............................................................................................................................ 8 HEALTH RISKS FOR HUMANS ......................................................................................................................... 9 Respiratory Irritation ...................................................................................................................................................10 Neurotic Shellfish Poisoning ......................................................................................................................................11 ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS .................................................................................................................................... 13 Sharks ................................................................................................................................................................................13 Birds ...................................................................................................................................................................................14 Dolphins and Manatees ...............................................................................................................................................15 Sea Turtles .......................................................................................................................................................................15 POSSIBLE MITIGATIONS................................................................................................................................ 16 Flow Cytometry ..............................................................................................................................................................16 Warning Signs .................................................................................................................................................................17 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................................... 18 FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................................. 21 TABLES ............................................................................................................................................................... 24 REFERENCE PAGE ............................................................................................................................................ 25 1 Abstract Karenia brevis is a common harmful algal involved in red tides at Florida southwest coast. K. brevis is one of the most harmful algal that have been studied found to tolerate in high salinity and warm temperatures. The brevotoxins produced by K. brevis is harmful to humans and marine related animals. Inhaled aerosolized brevotoxins will be deposited into the upper and lower airways. NSP is a disease, a result of consuming filter feeders that are contaminated with brevotoxins. There are evidence that animal mortality rates still occurs after a red tide is over. Birds, manatees, bottlenose dolphins and sharks populations are affected by their diet. Flow Cytometry should be used to monitor and detect if K. brevis cell count ahead of time. To prevent NSP incidents, noticeable warning signs of prohibited shellfish bed harvesting should be provided in areas attracted to tourists. 2 Introduction This paper will focus on a harmful alga, known as K. brevis that is found in the southwest coast of Florida. This paper will investigate the coast of Florida where - there is a history of red tides, also known as harmful algal blooms involving K. brevis, a synthesis of peer review and scientific literature. There was a high number of people reported to hospitals due to respiratory issues after occurrences of the blooms indicating K. brevis exposure. Also, the pathway of exposure for marine related animals are from consuming bivalves with accumulated K. brevis toxins, which is a threat because mortality rates increase. Karenia brevis (known as the red tides and formally called Gymnodinium breve), are toxic dinoflagellates algae (Gravinese 2018; Evens et., al 2001). Annual red tide blooms involving K. brevis at the southwest of Florida, USA, can last from a few weeks to a year (See Figure 1. Map of Florida and its Coast). These microorganisms produce a powerful ichthyotoxin that increases fish and aquatic mammal mortality rates and threatens human health (Evens et al., 2001). The proliferation of K. brevis is harmful and should be monitored to predict future outbreaks in order to promote safety for public health and wildlife. Specifically, this research paper will focus on larger marine animals that are on the higher tier of the food chain. I will study the adverse impacts of human health issues related Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) and respiratory illnesses using the number of visits the Sarasota Memorial Hospital having during red tides events. Then, I will study how populations are affected in larger fishes, marine mammals, and other marine-related 3 creatures by comparing mortality rates during red tide events. Along with impact analysis on public health and ecosystem, I will investigate possible mitigations for them. My research will answer: 1) What are the public health risks to exposures of K. brevis toxins? 2) How are animals living in and around the marine environment affected by K. brevis? 3) What are the best mitigation practices to reduce K. brevis cell density? Biology Genus Karenia is a dinoflagellate belonging to the Kareniaceae family and has 12 species (Brand et al., 2012). Kareniaceae is different from the rest of the dinoflagellates because they carry pigments such as fucoxanthin, 19’-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin, 19’- hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin, and 19’-hexanoyloxyparacentrone 3-acetate while other dinoflagellates carry peridinin (Brand et al., 2012). There are no cell wall plates that are known as armors in dinoflagellates for Kareniaceae making them susceptible to rupture by clashing waves (Persson et al., 2013). These dinoflagellates are pleomorphic, meaning - there are variations in shapes and sizes of individual cells. Also, they are polymorphic, meaning there are more than one form (Persson et al., 2013). Ultimately, this shows that these species are highly variable shape and size. Stage initiation is where K. brevis begins, which is at least two to four kilometers offshore from Gulf of Mexico (Sinclair 2009). When offshore, K. brevis rapidly increase in numbers. Eventually, the K. brevis population moves into other bodies of water by wind or waves. (Redalje et al., 2008; Brand et al., 2012). When K. brevis is nearby shore, nutrients from land runoff stimulates growth (Brand et al., 2012). 4 Genus Karenia From the 12 species in genus Karenia, Karenia brevis is one of the most harmful algal that have been studied (Brand et al., 2012). These species are microalgal cells, algal that are too small for the naked eye to see and will need an aid of a microscope (Hauter & Hauter, 2018). K. brevis ranges in size from 20 to 40 µm but can reach 90 µm in rare cases (Figure 2) (Brand et al., 2012). K. brevis is a mixotroph because they have multiple ways of obtaining nutrients for growth. The dinoflagellates are photosynthetic and can use organic compounds for growth (Gallardo-Rodríguez, 2012). Depending on the environmental changes, K. brevis swim speed ranges from 50 to 550 µm s-1 (Mckay et al., 2006). Dinoflagellates are known to reproduce asexually, K. brevis can reproduce both asexually and sexually. Only at night, binary fission occurs where K. brevis creates a clone of itself (Brand et al., 2012). Division cell rates are recorded to be .3 division 푑푎푦−1