An official website of the United States government. Here's how you know. Pfiesteria normally exists in non-toxic forms, feeding on algae and bacteria in the water and in sediments of tidal rivers and estuaries.
They can become toxic in the presence of schooling fish, triggered by their secretions or excrement in the water. Fields, S. Rhodes Ingestion and retention of Chroomonas spp. Cryptophyceae by Gymnodinium acidotum Dinophyceae , J. Gaines, G. Heterotrophic nutrition. In: F. Lewitus and J. Burkholder Feeding behavior of the ichthyotoxic estuarine dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria piscicida , on amino acids, algal prey, and fish vs.
In: B. Reguera, J. Blanco, Ma L. Fernandez and T. Hallegraeff, G. A review of harmful algal blooms and their apparent global increase. Phycologia Lewitus, A. Jesien, T. Kana, J. Burkholder and H. Discovery of the "phantom" dinoflagellate in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries Kleptoplastidy in the toxic dinoflagellate Pfiesteria piscicida Dinophyceae. Noga, E. Khoo, J. Stevens, Z. Fan and J.
Novel toxic dinoflagellate causes epidemic disease in estuarine fish. Schnepf, E. Nutritional strategies in dinoflagellates. A review with emphasis on cell biological aspects. Winter and D. Mollenhauer Gymnodinium aeruginosum Dinophyta : A blue-green dinoflagellate with a vestigial, cryptophycean symbiont.
Plant Syst. Smayda, T. Global epidemic of noxious phytoplankton blooms and food chain consequences in large ecosystems. In: K. Sherman, L. Alexander and B. The first level provides a summary definition to improve the understanding of terms or phrases for a general non-technical reader.
The second level provides additional or more detailed scientific information for the more technical reader. Use of these terms will facilitate accurate and clear communication among scientists, managers, policy makers, the press, and the public. These include disease agents fungi, parasites, bacteria, and viruses , direct trauma, low dissolved oxygen levels hypoxia and anoxia , and other physical stressors.
However, the popular press and scientific literature have previously emphasized Pfiesteria piscicida and P. Recent studies by VIMS researchers and colleagues contradict this view, showing that the characteristic, deeply penetrating skin lesions often attributed to the action of a Pfiesteria toxin are instead caused by the common water mold Aphanomyces invadans. In these studies, fish exposed to A. The disease afflicting Atlantic estuarine menhaden is therefore best called ulcerative mycosis UM , a disease that has been observed along the East Coast of the United States since at least the early s.
Pfiesteria may still play a role in field-observed lesions, possibly by inducing skin damage through epidermal feeding that predisposes fish to later infection by A. Further research is needed to determine Pfiesteria 's role relative to environmental stressors. A recent paper by Litaker et al. The Litaker paper contends that the previously reported amoeboid stages are actually separate, free-living contaminants introduced with the fish used in aquarium trials with Pfiesteria.
VIMS researchers can corroborate Litaker et al. At VIMS, amoebae occur not only in tanks where fish are exposed to Pfiesteria , but in control tanks that contain fish but are Pfiesteria -free. In addition, they have never seen amoebae attacking live fish in cultures with Pfiesteria.
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