Bigelow Laboratory: Toxic & Harmful Algal Blooms

	Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur along all U.S. coasts; however, certain types of blooms are tied to specific areas. For example, "Brown Tides" of Aureococcus anophagefferens occur only in the mid-Atlantic states and with regularlity in Long Island embayments. Findings indicate, however, that the geographical distributions of some HABs may be expanding. For example, Pfiesteria piscicida first posed problems off the coast of North Carolina, but lately Pfiesteria-like organisms have been detected from Alabama to Delaware. See a matrix of U.S. Region / Impact / Type of algae / Species
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TOXIC DINOFLAGELLATE BLOOMS

TOXIC DIATOM BLOOMS

HARMFUL BLOOMS (non-toxic)

U.S. Region	Impact	Type of algae	Species
Alaska	ASP	Diatom	Pseudo-nitzschia sp.
West coast	ASP	Diatom	Pseudo-nitzschia sp.
Hawaii	CFP	Dinoflagellate	Gambierdiscus toxicus
Florida	CFP	Dinoflagellate	Gambierdiscus toxicus
Maine, Oregon, California	DSP	Dinoflagellate	Dinophysis acuminata, Dinophysis fortii, Prorocentrum lima
Gulf of Mexico, N & S Carolina	NSP	Dinoflagellate	Karenia brevis
Alaska	PSP	Dinoflagellate	Alexandrium catenella
Gulf of Maine	PSP	Dinoflagellate	Alexandrium tamarense, Alexandrium fundyense
West coast	PSP	Dinoflagellate	Alexandrium catenella
Mid-Atlantic	Brown tides	Picoplankton*	Aureococcus anophagefferens
Texas	Brown tides	Nanoplankton**	Aureoumbra lagunensis
East coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico	Fish kills	Dinoflagellate	Pfiesteria piscicida
West coast	Fish kills	Diatom	Chaetoceros convolutus
Washington, Rhode Island	Fish kills	Dinoflagellate	Heterosigma akashiwo
*Picoplankton range in size from 0.2 to 2 micrometers. For reference, an average human hair width is 80 micrometers.
* *Nanoplankton range in size from 2 to 20 micrometers.