'Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)'
Abstract
Two oceanographic surveys for toxigenic phytoplankton in the South and North Atlantic Ocean, including
the adjacent Irminger Sea and the Arctic coasts of Greenland and Iceland, were conducted for analysis of
putative toxic microalgal species and their respective toxins. During both expeditions, plankton was sampled
by phytoplankton net (20 μm mesh) vertical hauls with subsequent size-fractionation, and by filtration of
Niskin bottle water samples from discrete depths. In addition, sediment samples at selected stations were
taken for identification and analysis of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts). Among the toxins
detected in both areas were domoic acid (DA), pectenotoxins (PTXs), yessotoxin (YTX), and paralytic
shellfish toxins (PSTs). In addition, in the northern hemisphere, dinophysistoxins (DTXs) and spirolides
were present, but these toxins were not found in Argentinean waters. In the sediments of San Jorge Gulf of
Argentina, cysts of the dinoflagellate species Alexandrium tamarense and Protoceratium reticulatum were
found, and their respective toxins (PSTs and YTX) were associated with the planktonic samples from the
same stations
