found mainly in the neritic areas adja- 

 cent to major river drainages. The 

 slope of the West Coast Florida con- 

 tinental shelf is very gentle, so that a 

 depth of 60 feet lies 25-45 miles off- 

 shore; consequently, the neritic zone is 

 broad. 



"During periods of relatively light 

 concentrations, tremendously dense 

 sampling is necessary to validate the 

 presence of the organism. For ex- 

 annple, on two different occasions, sam- 

 ples taken every hour in the same 

 water mass for periods of twenty-four 

 hours showed the organism present in 

 but 3 out of 50 samples in one instance, 

 and in but 2 out of 48 in the other. Even 

 during periods of heavy concentrations 

 associated with fish kills, when sam- 

 ples were in an area of dying fishes, 

 the counts varied from to over 1 

 million per quart, further indicating 

 the extreme patchiness of the orga- 

 nism's distribution in sea water." 



Two series of hourly samples taken 

 over 24- hour periods tend to show that 

 the organisnn appears to concentrate at 

 the surface during daylight and to move 

 downward at night. 



FINUCANE, JOHN H. 



1959a. Field ecology relating to red tide. 

 In Galveston Biological Laboratory fish- 

 ery research for the year ending June 

 30, 1959, p. 76-79. U.S. Fish Wildl. 

 Serv., Circ. 62. 



"Since October, 1958, the dominant 

 phytoplankton associated with G. breve 

 in the water samples were recorded 

 qualitatively in the inshore and off- 

 shore waters of Tampa Bay. Quantita- 

 tive counts (commenced in January 1959) 

 of dinoflagellates, diatoms and algae, 

 made from preserved organisms stained 

 on millipore filter paper, will be used 

 to supplement these qualitative data," 

 [p. 79.] 



FINUCANE, JOHN H. 



1959b. Fixing and staining of dinoflagel- 

 lates. &i Galveston Biological Labora- 

 tory fishery researchfor the year ending 

 June 30, 1959, p. 108. U.S. Fish Wildl. 

 Serv., Circ. 62. 



"Due to the extreme fragility of 

 living G. breve , we are experinnenting 

 on techniques for the preservation of 

 plankton samples in the field which will 

 permit more precise quantitative and 

 qualitative analyses of samples. 



"Field samples were fixed imme- 

 diately after collection with 0.5 ml. of 

 2 percent osmic acid in 1 percent 



chromic acid solution per 50 ml. of the 

 sample. So far this fixative has been 

 the most effective in preserving G. breve 

 and other phytoplankton. 



"Fixed water samples were stored 

 under refrigeration at 36° F. These 

 samples were later filtered under re- 

 duced pressure, using HA gridded nnilli- 

 pore filters. After serial washes and 

 the application of a mordanting solution, 

 the organisnns were stained on the 

 millipore filter pad. The 3 most prom- 

 ising stains have been 1 percent Fast 

 Green FCF, 1/2 percent Gentian Violet, 

 and 1/2 percent Crystal Violet. These 

 filters are first cleared in cedar oil 

 or Cargille oil, then cut in half, and 

 mounted with balsam or Permount on a 

 glass slide. A permanent slide index 

 of the phytoplankton taken since Janu- 

 ary 1959 at selected stations is being 

 maintained. There is some tendency 

 for G. breve cells to round up during 

 filtration, but no distortion or cytolysis 

 of armored dinoflagellates or diatoms 

 was noted. 



"This technique can be used to 

 supplement living counts of G. breve 

 and associated phytoplankton and nnay 

 be valuable during extended offshore 

 sampling trips when large changes in 

 the number of organisms could occur 

 before examination of the samples." 



FINUCANE, JOHN H. 



1960. Field ecology relating to red tide. 

 In Galveston Biological Laboratory fish- 

 ery research for the year ending June 

 30, 1960, p. 52-54. U.S. Fish Wildl. 

 Serv., Circ. 92. 



"The 1959 red tide outbreak started 

 during the last part of September and 

 continued through November. The initial 

 pattern of distribution was similar to the 

 1957 outbreak with blooms of G. breve 

 first occurring outside the islands. The 

 first fish kill was reported September 



29, offshore from St. Petersburg Beach. 

 The greatest observed numbers of 

 G. breve (480,000-1,330,000 per liter) 

 were found in the neritic waters 3-10 

 miles west of Egmont Key, Septenaber 



30. By October there was a rapid de- 

 cline in both numbers and incidence of 

 G. breve , 10-40 miles west of Egmont 

 Key. This was particularly noticeable 

 at stations 10 miles offshore where the 

 numbers dropped from 1,120,000 per 

 liter in September to less than 100 per 

 liter during October. The coastal waters 

 north of Egmont Key to Clearwater had 

 a high count of only 33,000 per liter 

 as compared to 540,000 per liter at the 

 stations south of Egmont Key to Venice 



33 



