15
Paralytic Shellfish Toxins
and
Finfish
Downloaded by KTH ROYAL INST OF TECHNOLOGY on November 27, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: September 19, 1984 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1984-0262.ch015
ALAN W. WHITE Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Biological Station, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, E0G 2X0 Canada Paralytic shellfish toxins from dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyaulax have caused recurrent herring k i l l s in eastern Canada and have been implicated in sand lance and menhaden k i l l s in England and the northeastern United States. The k i l l s resulted from toxin transfer through the plankton community. Experiments show that adult and larval stages of various marine fish are sensitive to the toxins. During Gonyaulax blooms zooplankton, molluscan shellfish, and perhaps other components of the food web can become sufficiently toxic to present a danger to fish at several trophic levels. The impact of paralytic shellfish toxins on finfish populations is difficult to assess, but should be considered, especially in view of the trend of intensification and spreading of toxic Gonyaulax and Pyrodinium blooms in many areas of the world. Since finfish, unlike shellfish, are unable to accumulate the toxins in their flesh, there would seem to be l i t t l e problem in terms of the suitability of fish for human consumption, except possibly in instances where whole fish are consumed without processing. The impact of p a r a l y t i c s h e l l f i s h toxins on the u t i l i z a t i o n of s h e l l f i s h resources i s widespread and well recognized. The picture i s developing that p a r a l y t i c s h e l l f i s h toxins also a f f e c t f i n f i s h resources. Stated simply, p a r a l y t i c s h e l l f i s h toxins cause f i s h kills. Since 1976, when a herring k i l l was caused by p a r a l y t i c s h e l l f i s h toxins i n the Bay of Fundy, our laboratory has been investigating the effects of the toxins on f i s h and the food web routes through which the toxins reach f i s h . F i s h K i l l s Caused by P a r a l y t i c S h e l l f i s h Toxins Reports implicating p a r a l y t i c s h e l l f i s h toxins i n f i s h k i l l s are summarized i n Table I. The f i r s t instance i n which i t was suspected that these toxins were the cause of a f i s h k i l l occurred in May 1968 0097-6156/ 84/ 0262-0171 $06.00/ 0 © 1984 A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society
In Seafood Toxins; Ragelis, E.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1984.
SEAFOOD TOXINS
172
Downloaded by KTH ROYAL INST OF TECHNOLOGY on November 27, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: September 19, 1984 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1984-0262.ch015
Table I.
Fish K i l l s Associated with Paralytic S h e l l f i s h Toxins
Year 1968
Location and Reference England^,_2
1976
Canada .
Herring
1978
U.S.A.A
Sand lance
1979
U.S.A.I
Menhaden
1979
CanadaZ
Herring
3
Fish Sand lance
Toxin Content (jig/lOO g) Gut Muscle
Estimated Toxin Dose fag/kg)
-
-
1414
