Toxins Found in Microscopic Flora

Name: _________________________________       Date: _____________

Your group will pick one of the two case studies below. Each case study deals with an illness caused by toxins from dinoflagellates or diatoms. After reading the case study, your group should use the sites listed below to find the distinguishing characteristics of different kinds of shellfish poisoning. Then you will identify the illness described in the story, the responsible toxin, and the species that could have produced the toxin.

1. Click on a case study and read it. Take note of the symptoms, when they started, and what the patient ate.
   • Case study A
   • Case study B
   
   
2. Research the illnesses listed in the first column at the two Web sites listed in the second column. Each team member may pick a different illness. Make note of the symptoms typically associated with each of these diseases.
   
   • Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
   • Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning
   • Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning
   • Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning
   • Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
   • The Harmful Algae Page
   • The Bad Bug Book
   
   
3. What type of poisoning do you think your case study is describing? Explain your answer.
   
   
   
   
4. What kind of toxin is responsible for this type of poisoning?
   
   
   
   
5. What species of dinoflagellate or diatom produce this type of toxin? You may list more than one.