Gires Usup, Asmat Ahmad, Marine Science Programme, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Up until 1990, problems related to harmful algal blooms and paralytic shellfish poisoning in Malaysia were relatively simple, being confined to the west coast of Sabah in Borneo. PSPs in that area are primarily due to Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum. A sufficiently effective shellfish toxicity monitoring program was established by the Malaysian Department of Fisheries, greatly reducing the occurrences of PSP despite recurring bloom events. In early 1991 PSP occurred for the first time in Peninsula Malaysia when three people were taken ill after eating farmed mussel from Sebatu in the Straits of Malacca. The dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamiyanavichi was eventually confirmed as the toxin producer. This event prompted the government to establish an additional shellfish toxicity monitoring facility based at the Fisheries Research Institute in Penang. In early 2000 PSP and shellfish toxicity were reported for the first time from the east coast of Sabah. Unfortunately the toxin producer in this case has yet to be identified. The latest development of PSP events in Malaysia took place in September 2001 when six people were taken ill after eating clams harvested from a coastal lagoon in Kelantan on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. One of the victims eventually died. Mouse bioassays and the receptor binding assay confirmed high levels of toxin in the clams. Inspection of plankton samples collected from the affected area showed high density of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tropicale. While the toxicity of this species has yet to be confirmed, it is highly probable that it is responsible for the toxicity. In some of the samples there were also significant numbers of as an unyet identified Alexandrium species. Both A. tropicale and the unidentified species have been established in culture. These events indicate the growing significance of PSP in Malaysia and it is a problem that could be magnified as shellfish aquaculture intensifies. Logistical considerations warrant the establishment of a shellfish toxicity monitoring facility on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. In the long term, these monitoring facilities should also include monitoring of DSP and ASP in their programmes.

Phone: 60-3-89293219
Fax: 60-3-89253357
E-mail: gires@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my