Trophic transfer of paralytic shellfish toxins from clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) to gastropods (Nassarius festivus)

A local strain of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense (ATCI01), which predominantly produces C2 toxin, was fed to the clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) under laboratory conditions. Concentrations of paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) in the dosed clams were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatographic (HPLC) analyses, and the clams were homogenized and then fed to the gastropods (Nassarius festivus). In the toxin accumulation phase, which lasted for 42 days, concentrations of PSTs increased in the snails gradually, reaching a maximum of 1.10 nmole g^-1 at the end of the exposure period. The toxin content of the homogenized clams (food) was 13.18 nmole g^-1, which was about 12-fold higher than the PST content in the snails. Between day 43 and day 82, the snails were fed with non-toxic clams, and this period represented the depuration phase. Accumulation and depuration rates of PSTs in the snails, N. festivus, were determined by fitting the experimental data to user-defined parameters program using a one-compartment model. Two different modeling approaches were used to derive the accumulation and depuration rates. The first approach is to derive both values from the data for the toxin uptake. The second approach is to derive depuration rate from the depuration data and then to derive uptake rate, allowing for toxin depuration, from the data for toxin uptake. The first approach yielded more consistent results for the toxin concentration at the end of the uptake period, when compared with the experimental data. The toxin uptake and depuration rates were 1.64 (pmole of toxin into snail per day) per (nmole g^-1 of toxin in food) and 0.06 ± 0.02 day^-1 (mean ± SE), respectively. The toxin profiles of snails were similar to the clams, but different from the algae. Besides C toxins (C1 and C2), dcGTX2 and dcGTX3 were also detected in both clams and snails. The β:α epimer ratio gradually decreased during trophic transfer and approached a ratio of 1:3 (26.4 mol%:73.6 mol% at day 42) in the snails, near the end of the accumulation period.