HAB Species by Name

The below table lists major HAB species and their impacts to human health, wildlife, ecosystems, and economies.  This information is adapted from the IOC UNESCO Taxonomic Reference List (please visit the the IOC Harmful Algal Programme for additional information: http://www.marinespecies.org/hab)

To view information organized by HAB poisoning syndrome/impact, please click here.  Additional information regarding freshwater HAB taxa can be found on the EPA's CyanoHAB website: https://www.epa.gov/cyanohabs.

Causative Organism	Toxin/Bioactive Compound	Human Health Effects and/or Syndrome	Impacts to wildlife and/or domestic animals	Ecosystem Disruption Impacts	Economic Impacts	Impacted Areas in U.S.
Akashiwo sanguineum	Surfactants	Suspected respiratory irritant	Migratory bird deaths, including protected species	Water discoloration; Foam formation	Rehabilitation of protected bird species	Pacific Coast
Alexandrium monilatum	Goniodomin		Fish and shellfish mortality	Water discoloration		Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast up to New Jersey
Alexandrium*; Gymnodinium*; Pyrodinium bahamense	Saxitoxins	Respiratory paralysis, death (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning or PSP)	Marine mammal deaths		Loss of shellfish harvesting income; human illness from recreational harvest; closure recreational puffer fish harvest in FL	Pacific coast, including Alaska; NE Atlantic coast; Florida
Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, and Nostoc sp.	Anatoxins, saxotoxins	Neurotoxin, respiratory paralysis	Illnesses or deaths among livestock, dogs, waterfowl, and fish	Impacts to fish and waterfowl		Widespread in freshwater systems; Great Lakes
Aureococcus anophagefferens --Long Island Brown Tide	Not characterized	Water discoloration; seagrass and shellfish die-offs; hypoxic zones	Loss of shellfish harvesting income; interference with restoration			Mid-Atlantic coast
Aureoumbra lagunensis --Texas Brown Tide	Not characterized: extracellular polymeric substance (EPS); possibly other uncharacterized compounds			Water discoloration; Loss of submerged aquatic vegetation		Texas, Florida
Azadinium	Azaspiracid toxins	Gastrointestinal impacts, cytotoxic, possible teratogen and carcinogen; (Azaspiracid shellfish poisoning or AZP)				Pacific northwest
Cylindrospermopsis	Cylindrospermopsins, saxitons	Hepatotoxin, kidney damage, neurotoxin	Dog, fish kills, bird illness	Impacts to fish and waterfowl	Loss of livestock and pets	Freshwater systems
Dinophysis; Prorocentrum*	Okadaic acid; Dinophysotoxins	Gastrointestinal distress (Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning or DSP)			Closing of shellfish fisheries	Oregon, Texas, Washington, Long Island Sound; New England
Gambierdiscus*	Ciguatoxins	Sensory and gastrointestinal dysfunction (Ciguatera Poisoning or CP)	Unknown; Possible impacts to monk seals		Bans on fish sales from affected areas, cost of medical treatment, loss of protein source	Florida, Gulf Coast, Hawaii, Pacific, and Caribbean
Heterosigma akashiwo	Ichthyotoxins		Fish kills	Water discoloration	Loss of fish net pen mariculture	Washington; Mid-Atlantic coast
Karenia	Brevetoxins	Neurotoxicity; Gastrointestinal and sensory effects (Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning or NSP), respiratory effects	Fish kills; manatee, dolphin, marine turtle, and bird deaths	Water discoloration	Loss of tourism income; Removal of dead fish from beaches, shellfisheries closing, increased emergency room visits due to respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, wildlife rehabilitation	Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast up to Delaware
Karlodinium	Karlotoxins		Fish kills	Water discoloration		Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Lyngbya	Lyngbyatoxin, Aplysiatoxin, debromoaplysiatoxin	Dermatitis, gastro-intestinal inflammatory toxins	Livestock deaths (horses), may contribute to fibropapillomatosis in turtles		Possible tourism impacts (beachgoers)	Benthic mats in marine and freshwater systems
Macroalgae (Sargassum and Cladophora)	H2S, dopamine	Respiratory impacts, odors	Impair nesting protected species	Shade submerged aquatic vegetation, overgrow coral reefs and seagrasses, cause hypoxia	High biomass necessitating removal from beaches; loss of tourism income	All coasts
Margalefidinium	Reactive oxygen species (ROS); possibly other uncharacterized compounds		Fish kills	Water discoloration	Severe impacts on fish and shellfish maricultrue in Asia	West Coast, Mid-Atlantic
Marine cyanobacteria (formerly Lyngbya)	Dermatotoxins	Impact divers on coral reefs	Overgrow coral reefs		Loss of tourism income	South Florida
Microcystis	Microcystins	Hepatotoxin, damage to kidney and reproductive system, carcinogenic potential	Illnesses and deaths among livestock, dogs, and fish	Impacts to fish and waterfowl	Drinking water supply disruption, loss of livestock and pets, recreational fishing losses	Widespread in freshwater systems; Great Lakes
Ostreopsis	Ostreocin (palytoxin analogs)	Respiratory problems, skin irritation, flu-like symptoms, death	Possible invertebrate mass mortalities and animal deaths	Loss of macroalgae and benthic organisms	Loss of tourism income; costs medical treatment	Caribbean, Hawaii, Gulf of Mexico
Other Raphidophytes: Chattonella, Fibrocapsa	Ichthyotoxins; Brevetoxins	Fish kills	Water discoloration			Mid-Atlantic coast
Planktonthrix	Saxitoxins, microcystins	Neurotoxin, respiratory paralysis				Widespread in freshwater systems; Great Lakes
Prorocentrum minimum--Mahogany Tides	Not characterized		Mortality of spat in shellfish hatcheries	Water discoloration	Loss to shellfish hatcheries	Chesapeake Bay
Pseudo-nitzschia	Domoic Acid	Gastrointestinal and central nervous system effects (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning or ASP)	Mass mortality of fish and shellfish, seabird and marine mammal mortality		Closure of shellfish harvesting, loss of tourism income, wildlife rehabilitation	West Coast, Florida, New England

*only some species within the genus produce toxins