Toxicity tests in eight species ofChrysochromulina(Haptophyta)

摘要

Blooms of the marine flagellateChrysochromulinahave resulted in mortality of marine organisms in Scandinavian waters, including fish in aquaculture. Eight species ofChrysochromulina, namelyC.apheles,C.brevifilum,C.ericina,C.hirta,C.leadbeateri,C.parva,C.polylepis, andC.simplex, isolated into unialgal culture, were examined for haemolytic activity and toxicity to the brine shrimp,Artemia salina. Haemolytic fractions were obtained from all species, but onlyC.polylepiscells were toxic toArtemia. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis in chloroform ndash;methanolndash;water (75:25:4) and in chloroformndash;methanol (9:1) yielded up to six haemolytic spots. Except for one spot, these all occurred in extracts of the species examined, includingIsochrysissp., which was used as a control,C.polylepis, and the well-known fish killerPrymnesium parvum. The single unique haemolytic spot(Rfvalues 0.45 and 0.16 in solvents I and II, respectively) occurred in the extract fromC.polylepis. When isolated by TLC, the contents of the single spot were toxic toArtemia.Key words:Chrysochromulina, toxicity, haemolytic,Artemia, thin-layer chromatography (TLC).