Lyngbya

[Ian Tibbetts]

Dear Ursula Keuper-Bennett (and possible others who will get this),

I am part of a team looking at the Lyngbya blooms in Moreton Bay,
Australia. We have a large population of green turtles here that seem to be
succumbing to fibropapilloma. We are planning a small research project to
look at turtle health, Lyngbya toxin loads in turtles and the effects of
Lyngbya on their food. While Lyngbya has been around for a very long time
it does seem to be increasing its frequency and severity of infestation. 

I have seen it on the GBR but in relatively low biomass and very patchily
distributed.

My lab has also worked with Stylocheilus. It is a remarkable consumer of
Lyngbya and has fantastic growth rates. Unless we can identify and close
down the causal factors in bloom generation they offer one of the few
potential biological control agents.

I'd be keen to know if you got any Haminoea (anbother mollusc) in the bloom
and if you noted large numbers of Metis (a large red harpacticoid).

Cheers, Ian   
Dr Ian Tibbetts
Lecturer in Fish Biology
Director Moreton Bay Research Station
Director International Studies
Centre for Marine Studies

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