Marine Species Identification Portal : Gymnodinium sanguineum

Gymnodinium sanguineum Hirasaka, 1922

Species Overview:

Gymnodinium sanguineum is an unarmoured, marine, planktonic dinoflagellate species. This cosmopolitan species is a red tide former that has been associated with fish and shellfish mortality events.

Taxonomic Description:

Gymnodinium sanguineum is an athecate species; i.e. without thecal plates. This species is highly variable in size and shape. Cells are large, slightly dorso-ventrally flattened and roughly pentagonal (Figs. 1-4). An apical groove is present (Fig. 2). Cells range in size from 40-80 µm in length (Hirasaka, 1922, Lebour, 1925, Dodge, 1982, Fukuyo et al., 1990, Hallegraeff, 1991, Steidinger and Tangen, 1996).

The epitheca and hypotheca are nearly equal in size. The epitheca is rounded and conical, and the hypotheca is deeply indented by the sulcus creating two posterior lobes (Figs. 1-4). The median cingulum is left-handed and displaced 1-2 times its width (Figs. 2,3). The sulcus does not invade the epitheca, but expands posteriorly into the hypotheca (Hirasaka, 1922, Lebour, 1925, Dodge, 1982, Fukuyo et al., 1990, Steidinger and Tangen, 1996).

Morphology and Structure:

G. sanguineum has numerous large, spindle-shaped, reddish-yellow-brown chloroplasts radiating from the center of the cell. The large nucleus is slightly off-center (Fig. 4). Cells can vary from heavily pigmented to pale yellow or nearly colorless (Hirasaka, 1922, Lebour, 1925, Dodge, 1982, Fukuyo et al., 1990, Steidinger and Tangen, 1996). Mixotrophy has been observed for this species: in the Chesapeake Bay G. sanguineum preys on ciliate protozooplankton (Bockstahler and Coats, 1993).

Reproduction:

G. sanguineum reproduces asexually by binary fission; cells divide obliquely during mitosis (Dodge, 1982).

Ecology:

G. sanguineum is a planktonic species common in estuarine and coastal waters. This cosmopolitan species is a bloom-former associated with shellfish and fish kills. The first G. sanguineum red tide was reported from Kozusa-ura, Gokasho Bay, Japan (Hirasaka, 1922). Red tide events caused by this species have since been recorded from other coastal regions of Japan (Fukuyo et al., 1990). It is a common red tide bloom species in Australian and New Zealand coastal waters as well (Hallegraeff, 1991). G. sanguineum is a common red tide species in the Chesapeake Bay where levels as high as 8.8 X 10^5 cells/liter have been reported (Bockstahler and Coats, 1993). One bloom in Coyote Bay, Gulf of California, Mexico, cell densities reached 1.0 X 10^5 cells/liter (Kiefer and Lasker, 1975).

Robinson and Brown, 1983 and Voltolina, 1993 observed possible sexual stages of G. sanguineum from a recurrent bloom. They speculate that this species may form resting cysts to reseed a region in the next bloom season.

Nakamura et al., 1982 reported that cultures of G. sanguineum can tolerate a wide range of temperatures (13-24 °C) and salinities (15-35 o/oo).

Toxicity:

G. sanguineum is a red tide species associated with fish and invertebrate kills. Cardwell et al., 1979 reported the acute toxicity of this species to larval stages of two species of oysters in Puget Sound, Washington State. And G. sanguineum is believed to be responsible for at least one reported fish mortality event in Peru (Jordan, 1979).

Tindall et al., 1984 and Carlson and Tindall, 1985 demonstrated one isolate of this species to be potentially toxic; however, the toxin principles have yet to be elucidated.

Habitat and Locality:

G. sanguineum is commonly found in temperate to tropical neritic waters (Steidinger and Tangen, 1996). Blooms have been recorded from Japan (Hirasaka, 1922, Fukuyo et al., 1990), Australia and New Zealand (Hallegraeff, 1991), and from the Atlantic and Pacific American coasts (Kiefer and Lasker, 1975, Robinson and Brown, 1983, Bockstahler and Coats, 1993, Voltolina, 1993).

Bockstahler, K.R. and D.W. Coats 1993. Spatial and temporal aspects of mixotrophy in Chesapeake Bay dinoflagellates. J. Euk. Microbiol. 40: 49-60.

Cardwell, R.D., S. Olsen, M.I. Carr and E.W. Sanborn 1979. Causes of oyster mortality in South Puget Sound. NOAA Tech. Mem. ERL MESA-39.

Carlson, R.D and D.R. Tindall 1985. Distribution and periodicity of toxic dinoflagellates in the Virgin Islands. In: D.M. Anderson, A.W. White and D.G. Baden (eds), Toxic Dinoflagellates, Elsevier, New York: 171-176.

Dodge, J.D. 1982. Marine Dinoflagellates of the British Isles. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. 303 pp.

Fukuyo, Y., H. Takano, M. Chihara and K. Matsuoka 1990. Red Tide Organisms in Japan. An Illustrated Taxonomic Guide. Uchida Rokakuho, Co., Ltd., Tokyo. 407 pp.

Hallegraeff, G.M. 1991. Aquaculturists Guide to Harmful Australian Microalgae. Fishing Industry Training Board of Tasmania/CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Hobart, 111 pp.

Hirasaka, R. 1922. A case of discoloured sea water. Annot. Zool. Jap., Tokyo, vol. X, Art. 15.

Jordan, R. 1979. Hematotalasia y mortandad de peces en la costa peruana. Bol. ERFEN 3: 34-37.

Kiefer, D.A. and R. Lasker 1975. Two blooms of Gymnodinium splendens, an unarmored dinoflagellate. Fish. Bull. 73: 675-678.

Lebour, M.V. 1925. The Dinoflagellates of Northern Seas. Marine Biol. Assoc. U.K., Plymouth. 250 pp.

Martin, G.W. 1929. Dinoflagellates from marine and brackish waters of New Jersey. University of Iowa Studies in Natural History 12: 1-32.

Nakamura, Y., M. Watanabe and M. Watanabe 1982. The effect of various environmental factors on the growth yield of red tide algae. III. Gymnodinium splendens. Res. Rep. Natl. Inst. Environ. Stud. 30: 87-93.

Robinson, M.G. and L.N. Brown 1983. A recurrent red tide in a British Columbian coastal lagoon. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 40: 2135-2143.

Steidinger, K.A. and K. Tangen 1996. Dinoflagellates. In: C.R. Tomas (ed), Identifying Marine Diatoms and Dinoflagellates, Academic Press, New York: 387-598.

Tindall, D.R., R.W. Dickey, R.D. Carlson and G. Morey-Gaines 1984. Ciguatoxigenic dinoflagellates from the Caribbean Sea. In: E.P. Ragelis (ed), Seafood Toxins. Am. Chem. Soc. Symposium Ser., Washington, D.C. No. 262: 225-240.

Voltolina, D. 1993. The origin of recurrent blooms of Gymnodinium sanguineum Hirasaka in a shallow coastal lagoon. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 168: 217-222.

Images

G.sanguineum2.TIF (Fig. 2. LM. Cingulum deep and median; displaced 1-2 times its width. Sulcus deeply notches hypotheca. Apical groove present (arrow).)
G.sanguineum3.TIF (Fig. 3. LM. Cell deeply pigmented; spindle-shaped chloroplasts radially arranged.)
G.sanguineum4.TIF (Fig. 4. LM. Dorsal view. Central nucleus. n=nucleus.)

Gymnodinium sanguineum