Harmful Algal Blooms in the Río de la Plata Region

The Rio de la Plata oceanic front has recurrent blooms of species that cause harm to humans and marine ecosystems, especially toxic species that produce paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), amnesic shellfish toxins (AST), diarrhetic shellfish toxins (DST), yessotoxins (YTXs), azaspiracid toxins (AZAs), and cyanotoxins (CTXs). Up to now, there has been a growth in the number of reports of human health and economic impacts caused by the increase in intensity and geographic spread of blooms of toxic species like Alexandrium tamarense/catenella, Gymnodinium catenatum, and Dinophysis acuminata complex. This review seeks to provide a broad overview of the harmful species recorded for this region. Another key issue is the relationship between the observed spread of A. tamarense/catenella and G. catenatum blooms and the oceanographic patterns that appear to control the occurrence, distribution, and toxicity of these toxic dinoflagellates along the Rio de la Plata oceanic front.