New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Geographic distribution of Pfiesteria spp. (Pfiesteriaceae) in Tasman
Bay and Canterbury, New Zealand (2002–03)
Lesley L. Rhodes
Janet E. Adamson
Cawthron Institute
Private Bag 2
Nelson, New Zealand
email: lesley.rhodes@cawthron.org.nz
Parke A. Rublee
Eric Schaefer
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
P.O. Box 26170
Greensboro
NC 27412–6170, United States
Abstract The fish-killing heterotrophic dinoflagellate species Pfiesteria
piscicida and P. shumwayae (also Pseudopfiesteria shumwayae)
were present throughout New Zealand and were residents of Tasman Bay’s
well-flushed estuaries and Canterbury’s brackish lakes, as determined by
polymerase chain reaction-based detection assays. The two species occurred in
a wide range of salinities and temperatures, although detection was restricted
seasonally from spring through to autumn, except for one incidence in the shallow
waters of Wairewa/Lake Forsyth, Canterbury, in the winter of 2003. The DNA sequencing
data indicated that P. shumwayae may encompass a suite of genetically
closely related species. The presence of Pfiesteria in New Zealand is
not considered an immediate risk to fish or human health given the current
low-to-moderate nutrient concentrations in New Zealand’s estuaries and brackish lakes.
However, increases in nutrient loadings could pose a risk, as has occurred in
eastern United States estuaries.
Keywords Pfiesteria; dinoflagellate; estuarine; polymerase
chain reaction (PCR)
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2006, Vol. 40:
211–220
0028–8330/06/4001–0211 © The Royal Society
of New Zealand 2006
M04143; Online publication date 28 February 2006. Received 20 October
2004; accepted 27 September 2005
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