Causative Organism: Cochlodinium sp.

Approximate Size: 30-41 μm in length and 25-36 μm in width (2, 3)

Species: C. polykrikoides

Mode of Activity: Not known

Toxicity: Not known

Geographic range: 5o N - 55o N (6*)

Impacts of Toxin

Marine Food Web:

Toxin is believed to be bio-magnified and/or bio-transformed up the food web.
Exposure to C. polykrikoides reduce the metamorphic rate and increase the mortality of bivalve larvae (5, 6, 9)
C. polykrikoides has been shown to be noxious to many types of zooplankton, thus escaping predation (6*, 7, 8*)
100% fish mortality has been shown to occur within 1 hour of fish exposure to C. polykrikoides at densities as low as 3.3 x 102 cells mL-1 (10)

Economic:

C. polykrikoides blooms have caused losses of $60 million USD in the Korean aquaculture industries in 1995 and $10–20 million USD per year in 2000–2003. They also caused losses of $2 million CAN in Canada in 1999 and $36 million USD in Japan in 2000 (1*)

Human Health

 No human health impacts known

 *and references cited therein.  ***Toxin produced by this organism is not yet known although the production of a toxin(s) has been confirmed (10)

References

1. Kim, C. et al., 2007. Life cycle of the ichthyotoxic dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides in Korean coastal waters. Harmful Algae, 6(1), 104-111.
2. Matsuoka, K., Iwataki, M. & Kawami, H., 2008. Morpholo gy and taxonomy of chain-forming species of the genus Cochlodinium (Dinophyceae). Harmful Algae, 7(3), 261-270.
3. Richlen, M.L. et al., 2010. The catastrophic 2008-2009 red tide in the Arabian gulf region, with observations on the identification and phylogeny of the fish-killing dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides. Harmful Algae, 9(2), 163-172.
4. Kim, C.H. et al., 2002. Regeneration from hyaline cysts of Cochlodinium polykrikoides (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae), a red tide organism along the Korean coast. Phycologia, 41(6), 667–669.
5. Matsuyama, Y. et al., 2001. Effects of harmful algae on the early planktonic larvae of the oyster, Crassostrea gigas. Harmful Algal Blooms 2000., 411–414.
6. Gobler, C.J. et al., 2008. Characterization, dynamics, and ecological impacts of harmful Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms on eastern Long Island, NY, USA. Harmful Algae, 7(3), 293-307.
7. Jiang, X. et al., 2009. Deleterious consequences of a red tide dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides for the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 390, 105–116.
8. Jiang, X., Lonsdale, D.J. & Gobler, C.J., 2010. Grazers and vitamins shape chain formation in a bloom-forming dinoflagellate, Cochlodinium polykrikoides. Oecologia, 1–10.
9. Tang, Y.Z. & Gobler, C.J., 2009. Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms and clonal isolates from the northwest Atlantic coast cause rapid mortality in larvae of multiple bivalve species. Marine biology, 156(12), 2601–2611.
10. Tang, Y.Z. & Gobler, C.J., 2009. Characterization of the toxicity of Cochlodinium polykrikoides isolates from Northeast US estuaries to finfish and shellfish. Harmful Algae, 8(3), 454-462