Accumulation of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in the bivalve Aulacomya ater and two carnivorous gastropods concholepas concholepas and Argobuccinum ranelliformes during an Alexandrium catenella bloom in Southern Chile

Abstract

In the early fall of 1996, a bloom of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella occurred in a fjord in the southern part of Chile that resulted in very high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxicity (up to 113,259 μg of STX Eq/100 g) in shellfish in this area. The specific toxicity and PSP-toxin profiles within one series of filter-feeding bivalve mollusc (Aulacomya ater) and two carnivorous gastropods (Concholepas concholepas and Argobuccinum ranelliformes) were determined in whole shellfish or, in the case of the gastropods, separately in the digestive gland and foot muscle tissues by a postcolumn derivatization high-performance liquid chromatography method. The bivalve A. ater contained 11 of the 12 PSP-toxin derivatives analyzed. Gonyautoxin derivatives, mainly GTX2 and GTX1 and also GTX3, GTX4, and GTX5, were responsible for 86% of the total toxin content. Other derivatives, present in lesser amounts, included neoSTX, STX, C1, C2, and C4. The highest levels of to