New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Pfiesteria shumwayae (Pfiesteriaceae) in New Zealand

Lesley L. Rhodes¹
Joann M. Burkholder²
Howard B. Glasgow²
Parke A. Rublee³
Coy Allen²
Janet E. Adamson1

¹Cawthron Institute
Private Bag 2
Nelson, New Zealand
²Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology
North Carolina State University
620 Hutton St., Suite 104
Raleigh
NC 27606, United States
³University of North Carolina at Greensboro
P.O. Box 26 174
Greensboro
NC 27412, United States

Abstract   Pfiesteria shumwayae Steidinger et Burkholder is now known to be present in New Zealand and occurs in estuaries around the country. The presence of Pfiesteria was initially determined by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection assay, using oligonucleotide primers targeted at ribosomal DNA extracted from estuarine water and sediments. Presence was confirmed by isolation from fresh sediments in the presence of fish (Oreochromis mossambicus), followed by identification by scanning electron microscopy. The New Zealand isolates of P. shumwayae were ichthyotoxic in bioassays, but there is no historic evidence of fish kills in New Zealand associated with the dinoflagellate.

Keywords   Pfiesteria; dinoflagellate; estuarine; fish kills; molecular probes

M02013 Received 20 February 2002; accepted 30 May 2002; published 17 September 2002
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2002, Vol. 36: 621-630
0028-8330/02/3603-0621 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

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