Screening for lipophilic marine toxins and their potential producers in coastal waters of Weihai in autumn, 2020

Lipophilic marine toxins (LMTs) produced by some microalgae in the sea could accumulate in shellfish and pose potential threats to the health of seafood consumers. Phytoplankton and shellfish samples were collected from coastal waters of Weihai in Shandong Peninsula, China in autumn, 2020, and screened for lipophilic marine toxins and their potential producers using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis and high throughput sequencing of partial DNA (V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene) extracted from phytoplankton. Pectenotoxin-2 (PTX2), trace amounts of azaspiracid (AZA1 or AZA40), and 13-desmethyl spirolide C (13-DesMe-C) were detected in phytoplankton samples, while PTX2 and gymnodimine (GYM) were detected in shellfish samples. The toxin content in shellfish samples was much lower than the regulatory limit or values reported previously. Results suggest that lipophilic marine toxins should have low risk in coastal waters of Weihai in autumn. Based on the data of high throughput sequencing, the OTUs were assigned to 5 identified species of Alexandrium, including A. ostenfeldii capable of producing 13-DesMe-C and GYM. Two OTUs were found closely related to the toxic species in genus Dinophysis, but it is impossible to assign them to any identified species due to the low resolving power of the V4 region for Dinophysis. The OTUs could not be assigned to any identified species in the genus Azadinium, suggesting the existence of unidentified species in this region.