Karenia brevis
Diagnosis
Diagnose_Species: Karenia brevis G. Hansen & Moestrup: Unarmoured dinoflagellates whose major carotenoid is fucoxanthin, 19'-hexanoyl-oxyfucoxanthin and/or 19'-butanoyl-oxyfucoxanthin. Cell nucleus without nuclear envelope chambers and nuclear capsule. Apical groove straight. Produces neurotoxins and hemolytic substances. Schaeffer et al. (2009) have demonstrated that high light causes K. brevis to increase EPS (epoxidation state of xanthophyll- cycle pigments diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin) and toxin concentrations while decreasing its lipid concentrations, specifically the sterol class. They conclude that this species may be relatively benign from sunrise to mid-morning but from mid-morning until mid-afternoon, it may have the potential to be highly toxic.
Bloom: Yes
Toxicity: Yes_NSP
Allelopathy: Yes (hemolytic substances)
Pigment: 19'-hexanoyl-oxyfucoxanthin and/or 19'-butanoyl-oxyfucoxanthin
Etymology
Karenia: named after Karen Steidinger in recognition of her contributions to dinoflagellate research. brevis: Adjective (Latin), short, of small extent (Stearn 1973).
Type species
This is the type species (holotype) of the genus Karenia.
Type illustration / Type locality / Type specimen
Type locality: Gulf of Mexico: near Naples, Florida, USA (Faust & Gulledge 2002: 38)
Ecology
Substrate: planktonic
Sociability: solitary
Salinity: marine
pH: neutral
Feeding: Photosynthetic
Life cycle
Phases_alternance: haplontic
Generation: <1 month
Reproduction_mode: asexual_binary
Feeding behaviour
Mode of locomotion
Attached phylogeny
Observation site(s)
SYMBIONTS
Association with... | Region origin | Name of site | In reference... |
---|---|---|---|
Parvilucifera sinerae | Catalunya | Harbor of Arenys de Mar | “Description, Host-specificity, and Strain Selectivity of the Dinoflagellate Parasite Parvilucifera sinerae sp. nov. (Perkinsozoa)”, Protist, vol. 159, no. 4, pp. 563 - 578, 2008. | ,