Amphidomataceae in the Labrador Sea and western Greenland waters

• Main Authors: Tillmann, Urban, Wietkamp, Stephan, Toebe, Kerstin, Krock, Bernd, Gu, Haifeng
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Greenland; Labrador Sea
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/48328/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.a1d224bb-35be-4613-806e-f9ba06b60dbb

Amphidomataceae in the Labrador Sea and western Greenland waters Azaspiracids (AZA) are the most recently discovered group of lipophilic marine biotoxins of microalgal origin associated with human incidents of shellfish poisoning. Over the last couple of years, four out of 27 described species of Amphidomataceae have been identified as primary source of AZA. Diversity and global biogeography of species of Amphidomataceae, however, still are poorly known. In summer 2017 we sampled the central Labrador Sea and the western Greenland coast from Gothaab Fjord (64° N) to 75° N for the presence of Amphidomataceae and AZA. In the central Labrador Sea, light microscopy revealed the presence of small Azadinium-like cells at fairly high densities of 9,200 cells L-1. Single cell isolation from that station yielded 14 clonal strains representing four different species, Azadinium obesum, Az. trinitatum, Az. dexteroporum, and a new species which is currently described taxonomically. For all cultured strains, no known AZA at measureable amounts were detected. From all stations along the cruise, filtered seawater samples were negative for AZA. Specific qPCR assays for DNA samples, targeting ribosomal genes of Azadinium and Amphidoma, revealed positive signals from the majority of stations along the Greenland west coast indicating a not yet recorded widespread occurrence, albeit at low densities, of Amphidomataceen species in that area. Solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) samplers were long-term deployed during the expedition in a continuous water sampling system (FerryBox) and were negative for known AZA. The results highlight the presence of Amphidomataceae in the area but the lack of toxins in the field samples indicate a currently low risk of toxic Amphidomataceae blooms in arctic coastal waters.