Blooms of the marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia that produce the neurotoxin domoic acid have been documented with regularity along the coast of southern California since 2003, with the occurrence of the toxin in shellfish tissue predating information on domoic acid ...

A coastwide bloom of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia in spring 2015 resulted in the largest recorded outbreak of the neurotoxin, domoic acid, along the North American west coast. Elevated toxins were measured in numerous stranded marine mammals and resulted in ...

Abundances of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and concentrations of particulate domoic acid (DA) were determined in the Southern California Bight (SCB) along the coasts of Los Angeles and Orange Counties during spring and summer of 2003 and 2004. At least 1500 km2 ...

San Francisco Bay (SFB) is a eutrophic estuary that harbors both freshwater and marine toxigenic organisms that are responsible for harmful algal blooms. While there are few commercial fishery harvests within SFB, recreational and subsistence harvesting for shellfish is common ...

Domoic acid is a potent neurotoxin produced by certain marine microalgae that can accumulate in the foodweb, posing a health threat to human seafood consumers and wildlife in coastal regions worldwide. Evidence of climatic regulation of domoic acid in shellfish ...

In this study, we directly compared two molecular techniques, sandwich hybridization assay (SHA) and quantitative PCR (qPCR), for quantifying laboratory cultures of the ichthyotoxic raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo. To maximize comparisons, all experiments entailed raising H. akashiwo in the laboratory, generating ...

Fish mortality and hypoxic events occur in many coastal and inland systems and may result from natural or anthropogenically mediated processes. The effects of consequent changes in water biogeochemistry have been investigated for communities of benthic invertebrates and pelagic metazoans ...

The development of molecular probe technologies over the last several decades has enabled more rapid and specific identification and enumeration of phytoplankton species compared to traditional technologies, such as light microscopy. Direct comparisons of these methods with respect to physiological ...

Marine biotoxin-contaminated seafood has caused thousands of poisonings worldwide this century. Given these threats, there is an increasing need for improved technologies that can be easily integrated into coastal monitoring programs. This study evaluates approaches for monitoring toxins associated with ...

Seawater desalination by reverse osmosis (RO) is a reliable method for augmenting drinking water supplies. In recent years, the number and size of these water projects have increased dramatically. As freshwater resources become limited due to global climate change, rising ...