Enhancing Phycotoxin Forecasting: The Role of Zooplankton Monitoring in Harmful Algal Bloom Management
(2025) BION03 20242Degree Projects in Biology
- Abstract
- Harmful algal blooms pose a threat to public health and the economy, affecting tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture. Complex environmental factors influence their occurrence, but current forecasting models often overlook the role of grazers. Chemical cues released by zooplankton, copepodamides, can trigger the production of toxins in harmful algae. Therefore, their presence in bivalves may enhance monitoring precision and reduce lead time. I studied copepodamides levels in four bivalve species (Mytilus edulis, Cerastoderma edule, Ostrea edulis, and Magallana gigas) along the Swedish west coast and looked at their relationship with toxin levels. I assessed the degradation rates of copepodamides in Mytilus edulis through controlled... (More)
- Harmful algal blooms pose a threat to public health and the economy, affecting tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture. Complex environmental factors influence their occurrence, but current forecasting models often overlook the role of grazers. Chemical cues released by zooplankton, copepodamides, can trigger the production of toxins in harmful algae. Therefore, their presence in bivalves may enhance monitoring precision and reduce lead time. I studied copepodamides levels in four bivalve species (Mytilus edulis, Cerastoderma edule, Ostrea edulis, and Magallana gigas) along the Swedish west coast and looked at their relationship with toxin levels. I assessed the degradation rates of copepodamides in Mytilus edulis through controlled incubations. Copepodamides were found in all species, showing seasonal variations typical for the area. Mytilus edulis appears to be the most efficient filter among the species, making it the most promising candidate for my study. To determine if copepodamides are stable during the Food Agency lipophilic sample protocol, I performed two degradation experiments, which indicated stable or increasing copepodamides levels, possibly due to ongoing metabolic activity or analytical artefacts. These showed no measurable copepodamides degradation. In contrast, the second experiment reports a puzzling increase in copepodamides over time. A significant positive relationship exists between copepodamides, okadaic acid, and hydrolysed dinophysistoxin-2. These findings suggest that incorporating copepodamides into phycotoxin forecasting could be used for warning of phycotoxin production, but further research is needed. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- Zooplankton Clues: A New Way to Spot Toxic Algal Blooms Early
Harmful algal blooms, important growths of algae that can release toxins, are becoming a growing problem, threatening human health, tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture. Predicting when and where these harmful events occur is difficult. Most forecasts focus on environmental factors (water temperature and nutrients). They often overlook the role of zooplankton, tiny animals that feed on algae. As a defence mechanism, some algae respond to these grazers by releasing toxins, triggered by chemical signals called copepodamides, which act like an alarm in the sea. If we can detect these signals in shellfish, we could warn of toxic blooms earlier.
In my study, I measured... (More) - Zooplankton Clues: A New Way to Spot Toxic Algal Blooms Early
Harmful algal blooms, important growths of algae that can release toxins, are becoming a growing problem, threatening human health, tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture. Predicting when and where these harmful events occur is difficult. Most forecasts focus on environmental factors (water temperature and nutrients). They often overlook the role of zooplankton, tiny animals that feed on algae. As a defence mechanism, some algae respond to these grazers by releasing toxins, triggered by chemical signals called copepodamides, which act like an alarm in the sea. If we can detect these signals in shellfish, we could warn of toxic blooms earlier.
In my study, I measured copepodamides levels in four shellfish species along the Swedish west coast: blue mussels, cockles, flat oysters, and Pacific oysters. Working together with the Swedish Food Agency, I combined these chemical measurements with their toxin data to investigate the connection between the two. I also tested how copepodamides change inside blue mussels under controlled conditions.
The results showed that copepodamides are present in all species, with seasonal fluctuations. Blue mussels stood out as the best “detectors,” filtering more of these signals than the other species. Interestingly, the chemicals did not decrease over time inside mussels. In some cases, they even increased, suggesting either metabolic effects or minor measurement variations. Most importantly, higher copepodamides levels were associated with some higher levels of harmful algal toxins, which are toxic substances that can cause food poisoning.
These findings show that copepodamides found in shellfish, especially blue mussels, could serve as an early warning for toxic algal blooms. Using this approach could give us more time to protect human health, fisheries, and aquaculture. Further research will help refine the method and test its potential for large-scale monitoring.
Master’s degree: Project in Biology/Aquatic Ecology
60 credits 2025
Department of Biology, Lund University
Advisor: Erik Selander
Senior Lecturer, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Lund University (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9212876
- author
- Paliatsou, Aikaterini
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BION03 20242
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9212876
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-19 14:36:45
- date last changed
- 2025-09-19 14:36:45
@misc{9212876,
abstract = {{Harmful algal blooms pose a threat to public health and the economy, affecting tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture. Complex environmental factors influence their occurrence, but current forecasting models often overlook the role of grazers. Chemical cues released by zooplankton, copepodamides, can trigger the production of toxins in harmful algae. Therefore, their presence in bivalves may enhance monitoring precision and reduce lead time. I studied copepodamides levels in four bivalve species (Mytilus edulis, Cerastoderma edule, Ostrea edulis, and Magallana gigas) along the Swedish west coast and looked at their relationship with toxin levels. I assessed the degradation rates of copepodamides in Mytilus edulis through controlled incubations. Copepodamides were found in all species, showing seasonal variations typical for the area. Mytilus edulis appears to be the most efficient filter among the species, making it the most promising candidate for my study. To determine if copepodamides are stable during the Food Agency lipophilic sample protocol, I performed two degradation experiments, which indicated stable or increasing copepodamides levels, possibly due to ongoing metabolic activity or analytical artefacts. These showed no measurable copepodamides degradation. In contrast, the second experiment reports a puzzling increase in copepodamides over time. A significant positive relationship exists between copepodamides, okadaic acid, and hydrolysed dinophysistoxin-2. These findings suggest that incorporating copepodamides into phycotoxin forecasting could be used for warning of phycotoxin production, but further research is needed.}},
author = {{Paliatsou, Aikaterini}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Enhancing Phycotoxin Forecasting: The Role of Zooplankton Monitoring in Harmful Algal Bloom Management}},
year = {{2025}},
}