COLLIER, ALBERT W. 



1954. Gulf Fishery Investigations. &i Annual 

 report for fiscal year 1954, Branch of 

 Fishery Biology, Fish Wildl. Serv., 

 p. 23-25. 



" Red Tide .- -When the September 1953 

 Red Tide outbreak occurred the micro- 

 organisna Gynnnodinium brevis was iso- 

 lated and a medium evolved in which it 

 could be grown as a unialgal culture 

 (not bacteria free). In a series of ex- 

 periments, tube cultures were enlarged 

 to 10-liter tank cultures which culmi- 

 nated in developnnent of small-scale 

 blooms which were toxic to fish. The 

 success with Gymnodinium brevis was 

 made possible by success with cultures 

 of a related species, Gymnodinium 

 splendens . Cultures of the latter tested 

 for toxicity on fish (Membras and Mol- 

 lienesia ) were nontoxic at concentra- 

 tions of 3,000,000 cells per liter. 

 Gymnodinium brevis was toxic at 

 1 ,300,000 cells per liter, a concentration 

 which does not cause a pronounced water 

 discoloration in the 5- gallon pyrex con- 

 tainer where the culture is maintained. 

 In the deeper waters of the Florida 

 littoral regions, however, this concen- 

 tration would cause the 'milky green' 

 which often characterizes areas where 

 fish are killed. 



"These mass laboratory cultures are 

 set up so cells can be harvested daily 

 and the volume of total culture re- 

 moved made up by adding fresh nriedium. 

 Daily and biweekly sampling has been 

 made for pH, carbon dioxide, nitrate 

 nitrogen, phosphate phosphorus, car- 

 bohydrate, tyrosine, ammonia, and sul- 

 fide in these cultures. Metabolic studies 

 onmass cultures are used in interpreting 

 field data and will assist in diagnosing 

 field conditions which can lead to a 

 Red Tide. 



"Field surveys which began with the 

 September 1953 outbreak have shown 

 Florida waters have never been entirely 

 free of Gymnodiniunn brevis . Although 

 suitable hydrographic conditions have 

 been present to some degree through 

 the whole period, it is unknown whether 

 continued presence of G, brevis is be- 

 cause of these conditions or because of 

 improved techniques for locating the 

 organism when it is not in bloom. Data 

 from laboratory and field studies sup- 

 port the tentative conclusion that op- 

 timum salinity for a bloom of this 

 organism lies between 32 and 34 parts 

 per thousand. 



"Analysis of clinnatic factors has 

 confirmed the theory that rainfall dis- 

 tribution is a prime factor in initiating 

 fish kills. 



"Laboratory experiments have fur- 

 ther confirnaed the theory that decaying 

 fish bodies reinforce the bloonns." 

 [p. 24-25.] 



COLLIER, ALBERT W. 



1955. Gulf Fishery Investigations, bi An- 

 nual report for fiscal year 1955, Branch 

 of Fishery Biology, Fish Wildl. Serv., 

 p. 29-32. 



"Support for the theory that residues 

 of dead fish con-ipound the division rate 

 of G. brevis comes from an explosive 

 bloom in the laboratory which was 

 created by adding juices from fish 

 killed experimentally by a relatively 

 low concentration of G. brevis . The 

 initial concentration was about 3,000,000 

 individuals per quart; with the addition 

 of juices they tripled in nunaber over- 

 night. 



" Red tide control . --K control is pos- 

 sible, it will come after development of 

 techniques for predicting conditions 

 which are conducive to a red tide out- 

 break and for economical distribution 

 of chemical or physical agents lethal to 

 G . brevis . Predictions are necessaryto 

 make the latter possible. 



"A search for lethal agents has re- 

 vealed that metallic copper and copper 

 salts are most toxic. Copper sulphate 

 at approximately 0.12 p.p.m. (copper 

 equivalent 0.05 p.p.m.) in sea water is 

 lethal to G. brevis . A small piece of 

 copper metal will make a pint of sea 

 water lethal to G. brevis in a few 

 seconds. An experiment in which fine 

 copper sulphate was spread over the 

 sea surface with crop-dusting planes 

 was successful in eliminating the organ- 

 isms for approximately one fourth of a 

 square mile." [p. 31.] 



COLLIER, ALBERT. 



1958a. Gulf of Mexico physical and chemi- 

 cal data from Alaska cruises. U.S. 

 Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 

 249, vi + 417 p. 



This reports the original hydro- 

 graphic data collected from the vessel 

 Alaska during the period March 1951 to 

 July 1953. 



COLLIER, ALBERT. 



1958b. Some biochemical aspects of red 

 tides and related oceanographic prob- 

 lems. Limnol. Oceanogr. 3(l):33-39. 



27 



