scholarly journals Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins in North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis and their zooplankton prey in the Bay of Fundy, Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 306 ◽  
pp. 303-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Doucette ◽  
AD Cembella ◽  
JL Martin ◽  
J Michaud ◽  
TVN Cole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Shellfish Poisoning ◽  
Paralytic Shellfish ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whales ◽  
Psp Toxins ◽  
Zooplankton Prey

scholarly journals Summer and fall habitat of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) inferred from satellite telemetry

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark F Baumgartner ◽  
Bruce R Mate
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Chlorophyll Concentration ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whales

Satellite-monitored radio tags were attached to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Grand Manan Basin of the lower Bay of Fundy during the summer and early fall seasons of 1989–1991 and 2000. Monte Carlo tests were used to examine the distribution of the tagged whales in space and time and with respect to a variety of environmental variables to characterize right whale habitat on their northern feeding grounds. These environmental variables included depth, depth gradient, climatological surface and bottom hydrographic properties, and remotely sensed surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and their respective horizontal gradients. Site fidelity in the Bay of Fundy was very low during 1989–1991 and high during 2000. When the tagged animals left the Bay, they did not frequently visit the deep basins of the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf, where abundances of their primary copepod prey, Calanus finmarchicus, are thought to be high. Instead, right whales visited areas characterized by low bottom water temperatures, high surface salinity, and high surface stratification. No evidence was found that the tagged right whales associated with oceanic fronts or regions with high standing stocks of phytoplankton.

Assessment of the population structure of western North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) based on sighting and mtDNA data

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Schaeff ◽  
Scott D. Kraus ◽  
Moira W. Brown ◽  
Bradley N. White
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Courtship Behavior ◽  
Restriction Enzymes ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whales ◽  
Reproductive Females

Photoidentifications and 11 years of sighting data revealed that only two-thirds of the western North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) reproductive females took their calves to the Bay of Fundy, the only known summer nursery. Study of cow–calf pairs further indicated that female, and to a lesser extent male, calves were philopatric with respect to this nursery. To further examine population structure, mtDNA composite restriction morphs were determined for 150 animals (47% of the population). Using 11 restriction enzymes, three composite mtDNA morphs were identified. One morph was not found among reproductive females that brought all of their calves to the Bay of Fundy. In contrast, all three morphs were present, in the same relative frequencies, among males that were seen in the Bay of Fundy and those that were not. These findings support the hypothesis that this population may be divided into two subgroups, which are defined by their use of the Fundy nursery, and that males are generally less philopatric than females. Animals from both subgroups were seen on the southern Scotian shelf, where most right whale courtship behavior was observed. Hence, although segregated by nursery areas, the western North Atlantic right whales probably represent a single breeding population.

Fishing-gear threat to right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Canadian waters and the risk of lethal entanglement

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2174-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelia S.M. Vanderlaan ◽  
R. Kent Smedbol ◽  
Christopher T. Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Critical Habitat ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whale ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales

Commercial fishing gear can potentially entangle any whale, and this is especially true for the endangered North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ), for which entanglement is second only to vessel strike as being responsible for documented right whale deaths. We use right whale survey data and Canadian fishing-gear deployment data to estimate the relative threat of gear entanglement in a Scotia–Fundy study area and the relative risk of lethal entanglement in the Bay of Fundy and on Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf, where Critical Habitat has been legislated. We focus on groundfish and pelagic hook-and-line; groundfish gillnet; and crab-, hagfish-, and inshore and offshore lobster-trap gear. Our analyses demonstrate that groundfish hook-and-line gear poses the greatest threat to right whales among the seven gear types analysed during the summer-resident period in Critical Habitat and that gear from the lobster fisheries poses the greatest threat during the spring and autumn periods when whales are migrating to and from Critical Habitat. We suggest that area-specific seasonal closures of some fisheries would reduce threat and risk to whales without unduly compromising fishing interests.

scholarly journals Immunoassay Methods for Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins

2001 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 1649-1656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewald Usleber ◽  
Richard Dietrich ◽  
Christine Bürk ◽  
Elisabeth Schneider ◽  
Erwin Märtlbauer
Keyword(s):  
Test Procedure ◽  
Microtiter Plate ◽  
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Mouse Bioassay ◽  
Shellfish Poisoning ◽  
Sample Extract ◽  
Paralytic Shellfish ◽  
Psp Toxins ◽  
Immunochemical Techniques

Abstract The current status of immunochemical techniques for analysis of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins is summarized. Important aspects regarding production of the biological reagents necessary for immunochemical methods, the characteristics of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against saxitoxin and neosaxitoxin, and the importance of test sensitivity and specificity are discussed. Applications of immunochemical techniques for PSP toxins include microtiter plate enzyme immunoasays and enzyme-linked immunofiltration assays for toxin detection, and immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) for sample extract cleanup. A major advantage of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) is simplicity and rapidity of the test procedure, and higher sensitivity than other methods. However, quantitative agreement between EIA and mouse bioassay is dependent on antibody specificity and the toxin profile in the shellfish; thus, both over- and underestimation of total toxicity may occur. For screening purposes, however, EIAs offer major advantages over the mouse bioassay, which is criticized in Europe because of animal welfare. A major application of antibodies against PSP toxins is their use for extract cleanup by IAC, which gives highly purified extracts, thereby enhancing determination of PSP toxins by conventional physicochemical methods such as liquid chromatography. IAC can also be used to isolate PSP toxins for preparation of analytical standard solutions.

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