Mesodinium-Dinophysis encounters: temporal and spatial constraints on Dinophysis blooms

Species of the Dinophysis acuminata complex are the main cause of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning worldwide. These mixotrophs perform photosynthesis with plastids stolen from specific ciliate prey. Current transport models forecast advection of established populations, but modelling bloom development...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Díaz, Patricio A., Baldrich, Ángela M., Rodríguez, Francisco, Díaz, Manuel, Álvarez, Gonzalo, Pérez-Santos, Iván, Schwerter, Camila, Rodríguez-Villegas, Camilo, Carbonell, Pamela, Cantarero, Bárbara, López, Loreto, Reguera, Beatriz
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/394458
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/394458
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105000412098
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Chilean Patagonia
Dinophysis acuminata complex
Dinophysis—Mesodinium match–mismatch
Mesodinium rubrum/M. major complex
Reloncaví Fjord
Description
Summary:Species of the Dinophysis acuminata complex are the main cause of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning worldwide. These mixotrophs perform photosynthesis with plastids stolen from specific ciliate prey. Current transport models forecast advection of established populations, but modelling bloom development and maintenance also needs to consider the prey (Mesodinium spp.) of Dinophysis. Predator and prey have distinct niches, and Dinophysis bloom success relies on matching prey populations in time and place. During autumn 2019, red tides of Mesodinium rubrum in Reloncaví Fjord, Chile, were not followed by Dinophysis growth. The dynamics of Mesodinium-Dinophysis encounters during this and additional multiscale cases elsewhere are examined. Analogies with some classic predator-prey models (match-mismatch hypothesis; Lasker's stable ocean hypothesis) are explored. Preceding dense populations of Mesodinium do not guarantee Dinophysis blooms if spatial co-occurrence is not accompanied by water column structure, which leads to thin layer formation, as in Lasker's stable ocean hypothesis or if the predator growth season is over. Tracking the frequency of vacuolate Dinophysis cells, irrefutable signal of prey acquisition, with advanced in situ fluid-imaging instruments, is envisaged as a next-generation tool to predict rising Dinophysis populations.