---
- description: ~
  display_name: Global distribution of ciguatera causing dinoflagellates in the genus Gambierdiscus
  doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.05.017
  identifier: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.05.017
  journal_identifier: toxicon
  journal_pages: 711-730
  journal_vol: 56
  notes: ~
  title: Global distribution of ciguatera causing dinoflagellates in the genus Gambierdiscus
  type: article
  uri: /article/10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.05.017
  url: ~
  year: 2010
- description: 'Projected water temperatures at six sites in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea were used to forecast potential effects of climate change on the growth, abundance and distribution of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa species, dinoflagellates associated with ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP). Data from six sites in the Greater Caribbean were used to create statistically downscaled projections of water temperature using an ensemble of eleven global climate models and simulation RCP6.0 from the WCRP Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Growth rates of five dinoflagellate species were estimated through the end of the 21st century using experimentally derived temperature vs. growth relationships for multiple strains of each species. The projected growth rates suggest the distribution and abundance of CFP-associated dinoflagellate species will shift substantially through 2099. Rising water temperatures are projected to increase the abundance and diversity of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa species in the Gulf of Mexico and along the U.S. southeast Atlantic coast. In the Caribbean Sea, where the highest average temperatures correlate with the highest rates of CFP, it is projected that Gambierdiscus caribaeus, Gambierdiscus belizeanus and Fukuyoa ruetzleri will become increasingly dominant. Conversely, the lower temperature-adapted species Gambierdiscus carolinianus and Gambierdiscus ribotype 2 are likely to become less prevalent in the Caribbean Sea and are expected to expand their ranges in the northern Gulf of Mexico and farther into the western Atlantic. The risks associated with CFP are also expected to change regionally, with higher incidence rates in the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. southeast Atlantic coast, with stable or slightly lower risks in the Caribbean Sea. '
  display_name: Effects of ocean warming on growth and distribution of dinoflagellates associated with ciguatera fish poisoning in the Caribbean
  doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.020
  identifier: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.020
  journal_identifier: ecological-modelling
  journal_pages: 194-210
  journal_vol: 316
  notes: ~
  title: Effects of ocean warming on growth and distribution of dinoflagellates associated with ciguatera fish poisoning in the Caribbean
  type: article
  uri: /article/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.020
  url: ~
  year: 2015
- description: 'Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a circumtropical disease caused by ingestion of a variety of reef fish that bioaccumulate algal toxins. Distribution and abundance of the organisms that produce these toxins, chiefly dinoflagellates of the genus Gambierdiscus, are reported to correlate positively with water temperature. Consequently, there is growing concern that increasing temperatures associated with climate change could increase the incidence of CFP. This concern prompted experiments on the growth rates of six Gambierdiscus species at temperatures between 18 degC and 33 degC and the examination of sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean and West Indies for areas that could sustain rapid Gambierdiscus growth rates year-round. The thermal optimum for five of six Gambierdiscus species tested was [?]29 degC. Long-term SST data from the southern Gulf of Mexico indicate the number of days with sea surface temperatures [?]29 degC has nearly doubled (44 to 86) in the last three decades. To determine how the sea surface temperatures and Gambierdiscus growth data correlate with CFP incidences in the Caribbean, a literature review and a uniform, region-wide survey (1996-2006) of CFP cases were conducted. The highest CFP incidence rates were in the eastern Caribbean where water temperatures are warmest and least variable. '
  display_name: Ciguatera fish poisoning and sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies
  doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.02.026
  identifier: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.02.026
  journal_identifier: toxicon
  journal_pages: 698-710
  journal_vol: 56
  notes: ~
  title: Ciguatera fish poisoning and sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies
  type: article
  uri: /article/10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.02.026
  url: ~
  year: 2010