Alexandrium fundyense is a species of dinoflagellate. It produces toxins that induce paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), and is a common cause of red tide. A. fundyense regularly forms massive blooms along the northeastern coasts of the United States and Canada,ANDERSON, D.M., KULIS, D.M., DOUCETTE, G.J., GALLAGHER, J.C. & BALECH, E. 1994 Biogeography of toxic dinoflagellates in the genus Alexandrium from the northeastern United States and Canada; Marine Biology, 120: 467-478.Martin, J.L., Page, F.H., Hanke, A., Strain, P.M., LeGresley, M.M., 2005. Alexandrium fundyense vertical distribution patterns during 1982, 2001 and 2002 in the offshore Bay of Fundy, eastern Canada. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topicical Studies in Oceanography 52 (19–21), 2569–2592. resulting in enormous economic losses and public health concerns.Anderson, D.M., Kaoru, Y., White, A.W., 2000. Estimated annual economic impacts from harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the United States. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Technical Report. WHOI-2000-11. p. 97.
Enzyme electrophoretic dataHAYHOME, B.A., ANDERSON, D.M., KULIS, D.M. & WHITTEN, D.J. 1989 Variation among congeneric dinoflagellates from the northeastern United States and Canada. I. Enzyme electrophoresis; Marine Biology, 101: 427-435. and RNA genetic analysisSCHOLIN, C.A. & ANDERSON, D.M. 1994 Identification of group- and strain-specific genetic markers for globally distributed Alexandrium (Dinophyceae). I. RFLP analysis of SSU rRNA genes; Journal of Phycology, 30: 744-754.SCHOLIN, C.A., HERZOG, M., SOGIN, M. & ANDERSON, D.M. 1994 Identification of group- and strain-specific genetic markers for globally distributed Alexandrium (Dinophyceae). II. Sequence analysis of a fragment of the LSU rRNA gene; Journal of Phycology, 30: 991-1011. show Alexandrium fundyense and A. tamarense to be closely related, while mating compatibilities even suggest them to be varieties of a single heterothallic species.
Recent molecular work shows that this species belongs to the Alexandrium tamarense complex (Atama complex, including A. tamarense, Alexandrium fundyense, Alexandrium catenella) and that none of the three original morphospecies designations forms monophyletic groups in the present SSUbased and previous LSU-basedLilly, E.L., Halanych, K.M., Anderson, D.M., 2007. Species boundaries and global biogeography of the Alexandrium tamarense complex (Dinophyceae). J. Phycol. 43 (6), 1329–1338. phylogenetic trees, i.e. these species designations are invalid. This currently needs further investigation.
Formation of dinocysts was observed in grazing experiments with oysters. The cyst dynamics of this species have been studied in the Gulf of Maine.Anderson D. M., Stock C. A., Keafer B. A., et al. Alexandrium fundyense cyst dynamics in the Gulf of Maine. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topicical Studies in Oceanography. 2005a;52:2522-2542. Genetic studies of bloom development of this species show rapid selection occurring at a timescale of a few weeks.
See also Harmful algal blooms Paralytic shellfish poisoning Saxitoxin
References
Further reading
Encyclopedia of Life entry on Alexandrium fundyense