Golden alga
Prymnesium parvum
Prymnesium parvum is a unicellular alga found in both brackish and freshwater environments. It is notorious for producing prymnesins, potent toxins that can cause massive fish kills during high-density blooms. The species belongs to the Haptophyta group and is characterized by its golden-brown coloration and two flagella.
Details
Oxygen production
Produces oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis.
Habitat function
Part of the phytoplankton; can make habitats uninhabitable for fish during blooms.
Nutrient uptake
Efficient uptake of phosphate and nitrate; can switch to heterotrophic nutrition during nutrient deficiency.
Food source for
Serves as food for filter-feeding zooplankton at low densities.
Human use
No positive use; causes economic damage in fisheries and aquaculture.
Ecology
Ecological role
Primary producer that can damage the entire aquatic food web during blooms through toxin release.
Natural predators
Certain zooplankton species (when toxin concentrations are low).
Competitor species
Other phytoplankton species such as diatoms or green algae.
Ecosystem service
Oxygen production through photosynthesis (under normal conditions).
Threats
None; benefits from global warming and discharges of saline wastewater.
Scientific profile
Profile
Distinguishing features
Presence of a haptonema; production of prymnesins (ichthyotoxins); mixotrophic lifestyle (phagotrophy); euryhaline tolerance.
Reproduction
Asexual reproduction via longitudinal binary fission; formation of resting cysts under stress conditions or nutrient deficiency.