Table 1.
Morphotaxonomic assignments and toxicity among Alexandrium species. Toxin production may be highly inconsistent and therefore toxigenicity is reported only when at least one strain of the species is known to produce the designated toxin.
| Species | Basionyms/Synonyms | First description | Toxin type | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandrium acatenella* (Whedon & Kofoid) Balech |
Gonyaulax acatenella Whedon & Kofoid Protogonyaulax acatenella (Whedon & Kofoid) Taylor Gessnerium acatenellum (Whedon & Kofoid) L. Loeblich & Loeblich III |
Whedon and Kofoid (1936) | saxitoxins | toxin type assumed only from mouse bioassay symptoms of shellfish toxicity associated with blooms |
| Alexandrium affine* (Inoue & Fukuyo) Balech |
Protogonyaulax affinis Inoue & Fukuyo Alexandrium fukuyoi Balech |
Fukuyo et al. (1985) | saxitoxins | typically low toxicity or non-toxic |
| Alexandrium andersonii Balech* | Balech (1990) | saxitoxins | most commonly non-toxic | |
| Alexandrium angustitabulatum* Taylor | possible synonym of A. minutum | Balech (1995) (Hansen et al 2003) | saxitoxins | strains from the type locality weakly toxigenic |
| Alexandrium balechii*§ (Steidinger) Balech |
Gonyaulax balechii Steidinger Gessnerium balechii (Steidinger) Loeblich III & Loeblich, 1979 Pyrodinium balechii (Steidinger) Taylor, 1976 |
Steidinger (1971) | none known | blooms coincident with mass fish mortalities in type locality probably due to oxygen depletion |
| Alexandrium camurascutulum MacKenzie & Todd | MacKenzie and Todd (2002) | none known | ||
| Alexandrium catenella* (Whedon & Kofoid) Balech |
Protogonyaulax catenella (Whedon & Kofoid) Taylor Gessnerium catenellum (Whedon & Kofoid) Loeblich & Loeblich Gonyaulax catenella Whedon & Kofoid |
Whedon and Kofoid (1936) | saxitoxins | |
| Alexandrium cohorticula* (Balech) Balech |
Gonyaulax cohorticula Balech Protogonyaulax cohorticula (Balech) Taylor Gessnerium cohorticula (Balech) L. Loeblich & Loeblich III |
Balech (1967) | saxitoxins | Japanese strains reportedly toxigenic, but possible misidentification of A. tamiyavanichii |
| Alexandrium compressum* (Fukuyo, Yoshida & Inoue) Balech | Protogonyaulax compressa Fukuyo, Yoshida & Inoue | Fukuyo et al. (1985) | none known | |
| Alexandrium concavum*§ (Gaarder) Balech emend. Larsen & Nguyen-Ngoc | Goniodoma concavum Gaarder |
Gaarder (1954) Larsen and Nguyen-Ngoc (2004)# |
none known | |
| Alexandrium foedum*§ Balech | Balech (1990) | none known | ||
| Alexandrium fraterculus* (Balech) Balech |
Gonyaulax fratercula Balech Gessnerium fraterculum (Balech) Loeblich & Loeblich III Protogonyaulax fratercula (Balech) Taylor |
Balech (1964) | none known | |
| Alexandrium fundyense* Balech | Balech (1985) | saxitoxins | ||
| Alexandrium gaarderae Nguyen-Ngoc & Larsen |
Gonyaulax concava (Gaarder) Balech Alexandrium concavum (Gaarder) Balech |
Larsen and Nguyen-Ngoc (2004) | none known | |
| Alexandrium globulum§ Nguyen-Ngoc & Larsen | Larsen and Nguyen-Ngoc (2004) | none known | ||
| Alexandrium hiranoi*§ Kita & Fukuyo | Goniodoma pseudogoniaulax Biecheler sensu Kita, Fukuyo, Tokuda & Hirano (1985) | Kita and Fukuyo (1988) | goniodomins | |
| Alexandrium insuetum*§ Balech | Balech (1985) | none known | ||
| Alexandrium kutnerae* (Balech) Balech | Gonyaulax kutnerae Balech | Balech (1979) | none known | |
| Alexandrium leei* Balech | Balech (1985) | none known | typically non-toxic, but low level of saxitoxin derivative reported from Vietnamese strain; unknown ichthyotoxins | |
| Alexandrium margalefii*§ Balech | Balech (1994) | none known | ||
| Alexandrium minutum* Halim |
Alexandrium ibericum Balech Alexandrium lusitanicum Balech Pyrodinium minutum (Halim) Taylor |
Halim (1960) Balech (1989)# |
saxitoxins | non-toxic strains also occur, e.g. in the Mediterranean Sea |
| Alexandrium monilatum*§ (Howell) Balech |
Gonyaulax monilata Howell Gessnerium mochimaensis Halim Gessnerium monilata (Howell) Loeblich III Pyrodinium monilatum (Howell) Taylor |
Howell (1953) | goniodomins | strongly ichthyotoxic |
| Alexandrium ostenfeldii* (Paulsen) Balech & Tangen |
Goniodoma ostenfeldii Paulsen Goniaulax ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Paulsen Heteraulacus ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Loeblich III Gessnerium ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Loeblich III & L.A. Loeblich Triadinium ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Dodge Pyrodinium phoneus Woloszynska & Conrad Goniaulux tamarensis var. globosa Braarud Gonyaulax globosa (Braarud) Balech Gonyaulax trygvei Parke Protogonyaulax globosa (Braarud) Taylor |
Paulsen (1904) Balech and Tangen (1985)# |
spirolides; saxitoxins | strains tend to produce either saxitoxins or spirolides, but rarely both groups |
| Alexandrium peruvianum*(Balech & Mendiola) Balech & Tangen | Gonyaulax peruviana Balech & Mendiola | Balech and Mendiola, 1977 | spirolides | spirolides produced by strains from the Mediterranean Sea |
| Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax*§ (Biecheler) Horiguchi ex Yuki & Fukuyo | Goniodoma pseudogonyaulax Biecheler | Biecheler (1952) | ||
| Alexandrium satoanum*§ Yuki & Fukuyo | Yuki and Fukuyo (1992) | |||
| Alexandrium tamarense* (Lebour) Balech |
Gonyaulax tamarensis Lebour Gessnerium tamarensis (Lebour) Loeblich III & A.L. Loeblich Protogonyaulax tamarensis (Lebour) F.J.R. Taylor Gonyaulax tamarensis var. excavata Braarud Gonyaulax excavata (Braarud) Balech Protogonyaulax excavata (Braarud) F.J.R. Taylor Alexandrium excavatum (Braarud) Balech & Tangen |
Lebour (1925) | saxitoxins | non-toxic strains also occur; undefined allelochemicals/ichthyotoxins may be produced |
| Alexandrium tamiyavanichii* Balech | Balech (1994) | saxitoxins | ||
| Alexandrium tamutum Montresor, Beran & John | Montresor et al. (2004) | none known | ||
| Alexandrium taylori*§ Balech | Balech (1994) | saxitoxins | usually non-toxic, but also known to produce non-proteinaceous exotoxin | |
| Alexandrium tropicale* Balech | Balech (1971) | none known |
*
species for which a detailed description accompanied with drawings is available in Balech (1995).
§
species assigned to the subgenus Gessnerium.
#
marks additional references that might be considered for species identification and/or for the clarification of their taxonomy.