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Review
. 2021 Jul 27;13(8):525.
doi: 10.3390/toxins13080525.

Ciguatera in the Indian Ocean with Special Insights on the Arabian Sea and Adjacent Gulf and Seas: A Review

Nazima Habibi  1 , Saif Uddin  1 , Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein  2 , Mohd Faizuddin  3
Affiliations
Review

Ciguatera in the Indian Ocean with Special Insights on the Arabian Sea and Adjacent Gulf and Seas: A Review

Nazima Habibi et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

The dinoflagellates of the genus Gambierdiscus are found in almost all oceans and seas between the coordinates 35° N and 35° S. Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa are producers of ciguatoxins (CTXs), which are known to cause foodborne disease associated with contaminated seafood. The occurrence and effects of CTXs are well described in the Pacific and the Caribbean. However, historically, their properties and presence have been poorly documented in the Indian Ocean (including the Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, and the Gulf). A higher occurrence of these microorganisms will proportionately increase the likelihood of CTXs entering the food chain, posing a severe threat to human seafood consumers. Therefore, comprehensive research strategies are critically important for developing effective monitoring and risk assessments of this emerging threat in the Indian Ocean. This review presents the available literature on ciguatera occurrence in the region and its adjacent marginal waters: aiming to identify the data gaps and vectors.

Keywords: Aden Gulf; Andaman Sea; Arabian sea; Bay of Bengal; Gulf of Aqaba; Kuwait bay; Red Sea; foodborne disease; seafood safety; the Indian Ocean.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research has no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spatial distribution of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa sp. from Reunion Island.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The occurrence of Gambierdiscus sp. from Tanzanian coastal area.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Gambierdiscus sp. reported from Mayotte Island, Indian Ocean.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Gambierdiscus toxicus and Fukuyoa yasumotoi occurances in Kuwait Coastal waters.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The Spatial distribution of Gambierdiscus belizeanus and Fukuyoa yasumotoi occurances in Red Sea and adjacent areas.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Occurrences of Gambierdiscus in Gulf of Oman and Pakistan’s coastal regions.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Gambierdiscus sp. reported from the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Phylogenetic associations of globally distributed Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa species. A split decomposition algorithm was applied on multiple aligned D8-D10 sequences of LSU of available Gambierdiscus species (downloaded from NCBI) and aligned through ClustalW2.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Number of Fishes associated with CP in Persian Gulf Countries as per the records of Fish Base (accessed on 1 June 2021).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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