Bacteria-Produced Algicide for Field Control of Toxic Dinoflagellates Does Not Cause a Cortisol Stress Response in Two Estuarine Fish Species
Date
2025-01-14
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Marine Biotechnology
Abstract
Application of algicides produced by naturally occurring bacteria is considered an environmentally friendly approach to control harmful algal blooms. However, few studies assess the effects of bacterial algicides on non-target species, either independently or with other stressors. Here, we measured sub-lethal effects of dinoflagellate-specific algicide IRI-160AA on the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus and Menidia menidia in laboratory experiments. Plasma cortisol levels were measured to test whether a neuroendocrine stress response was induced in these fish following exposure to the algicide alone, and in combination with diel-cycling hypoxia and/or pH, at 25 and 30 °C. Results show that exposure to IRI-160AA does not significantly affect cortisol levels in either species, at either temperature tested, whether exposure occurs independently or with co-occurring hypoxia and/or pH cycles as potential multiple stressors. These results support the application of IRI-160AA as an environmentally friendly approach to control harmful algal blooms in estuarine environments.
Description
This article was originally published in Marine Biotechnology. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-024-10383-z.
© The Author(s) 2025.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords
algicide, algal blooms, fish, cortisol, stress response, multiple stressors
Citation
Simons, V.E., Targett, T.E., Gaffney, P.M. et al. Bacteria-Produced Algicide for Field Control of Toxic Dinoflagellates Does Not Cause a Cortisol Stress Response in Two Estuarine Fish Species. Mar Biotechnol 27, 29 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-024-10383-z