Variation among congeneric dinoflagellates from the northeastern United States and Canada

Abstract

Relationships among dinoflagellates of the genus Alexandrium (=Protogonyaulax) from Long Island, New England, USA, and northeastern Canada were investigated between 1983 and 1987 using enzyme electrophoresis. A relative lack of heterogeneity among toxic isolates was observed despite large geographic separations of source populations. This observation is in marked contrast to observations on toxic members of this genus from the west coast of Canada and the United States. These different enzyme variability patterns support the proposal that dispersal of toxic strains in the east from a common source has occurred recently, presumably from established populations in northern Maine, USA, or Canada. Non-toxic strains from the study area were only distantly related to toxic isolates, consistent with their different morphology and separate species designations. One non-toxic isolate from a different region, that is conspecific with a number of the toxic strains, was more similar to these isolates than to other non-toxic clones.