Miami, Mar. Lab., Rep. to Fla. State 

 Bd. Conserv. 59-5, 26 p. 



TAYLOR, HARDEN F. 



1917a. A mortality of fishes on the west 

 coast of Florida. Science 45{ 1 163):367- 

 368. [Cited from Gunter, 1947.] 



TAYLOR, HARDEN F. 



1917b. Mortality of fishes on the west 

 coast of Florida. Rep. U.S. Comm. 

 Fish, for 1917, append. 3, 24 p. (Doc. 

 848.) 



". . . The reports and references 

 are too fragmentary to give an accurate 

 record . . . but collectively they clearly 

 indicate that all the keys from Key 

 West nearly as far north as Cedar 

 Keys have been visited by this plague, 

 and that it occurred in the years 1844, 

 1854, 1878, 1880, 1882, 1883, 1908, and 

 finally in 1916. 



"In October and November, 1916, 

 the mortality recurred in severe form, 

 the first visitation since 1908. . . . 



"Fishes of a great number of species 

 were noted dead and dying; the air was 

 charged with a suffocating gas, 

 which . . . irritated the air passages, 

 producing the symptoms of colds. This 

 gas, while exceedingly irritating, had 

 no odor. . . . The abnormal conditions 

 seemed to be moving southward, oc- 

 curring at Boca Grande on October 3 

 and 18, at Captiva Pass about the 

 middle of October, at Blind Pass 

 about October 20, at San Carlos Pass 

 about November 1, and dead fish were 

 first seen at Big Marco Pass onNovem- 

 ber 5. Captiva Pass is 7.5 statute miles 

 south of Boca Grande Pass; the others 

 are, respectively, 16.5, 27.75, and 67.75 

 miles to the south of Boca Greinde 

 Pass. . . . dead fish were seen as far 

 south as Cape Romano. . . . The death 

 of two persons in Fort Myers, Fla., in 

 November, was attributed to the eating 

 of some of these dead fish." [p. 5-6.] 



He quoted a letter from the deputy 

 collector of customs at Boca Grcinde 

 stating that the dead fish started to 

 come ashore on October 3. In a few 

 days the plague abated, but another 

 violent outbreak occurred on the 18th, 

 killing larger fish cind many of the bay 

 fishes. The gas was worse, and many 

 people asked for medical assistance. 



Taylor listed 63 species of fish 

 killed and sea urchins (Arbacia), horse- 

 shoe crabs, and sponges. He said bar- 

 nacles, oysters, and mussels were in 

 good condition, live conchs and hermit 

 crabs were observed repeatedly, por- 

 poises were plentiful, and pelicatns cind 



other water birds behaved normally. 

 Buzzards were common but neglected 

 the fish entirely. 



". . . at the height of the mortality, 

 on the Gulf coast, the water was of an 

 amber color (by transmitted light). This 

 colored water was described as being not 

 uniformly distributed, but occurring in 

 streaks, and it was in these streaks 

 that the fish are said to have per- 

 ished. ..." [p. 11.] 



TORREY, HARRY BEAL. 



1902. An unusual occurrence of Dinoflagel- 

 lata on the California Coast. Amer. 

 Natur. 36(423): 187-192. 



Bloom was first noted on July 7, 1901, 

 as a red streak off the mouth of San 

 Pedro Harbor. He identified it as Gon- 

 yaulcLX and mentioned am unusual display 

 of phosphorescence. The "muddy ver- 

 nnilion" streak reached the shore on the 

 l6th. On the 20th the beach (about 400 

 yards long) was lined with dead 

 animals - -several hundred holothurians, 

 stingrays, guitarfishes, sharks, red 

 perch, smelts, and several octopi. 



The "red water" occurred for 200 

 miles, from Santa Barbara to San Diego, 

 and extended several miles to sea. It 

 was still present around Sam Pedro on 

 September 1. 



". . . Noctiluca appeared in great 

 numbers toward the end of July, cind 

 devoured Gonyaulax with avidity. . ." 

 He mentions nine additional species of 

 dinoflagellates present in lesser abun- 

 dance. The red water was not present 

 at Santa Catalina Island, 20 miles off- 

 shore. 



"The boundaries of the red streaks 

 were quite sharply marked, although the 

 water between streaks often contained 

 Gonyaulax. . ." [p. 191.] 



U.S. FISH and WILDLIFE SERVICE. 



1958. Red tide symposium, Galveston, 

 Texas, March 5-7, 1958. 72 p. 



U.S. FISH and WILDLIFE SERVICE. 



1961. The Florida redtide. U.S. Fish Wildl. 

 Serv., Fish. Leafl. 506, 8 p. [Revision 

 of FL 420.] 



During the 1 946-47 outbreak: --"Prac- 

 tically all species of fish, including 

 such large forms as tarpon andjewfish, 

 were included in the victims of the red 

 water. Most oysters in affected areas 

 died. Horseshoe crabs died by the 

 thousands, but true crabs apparently 

 were unharmed. Sponges showed no 

 ill effects (the principal sponge beds 

 near Tarpon Springs were outside the 

 Red Tide area), [p. 2.] 



69 



