[Coral-List] Southern limit of ciguatera desease in the Western Caribbean Islands : South Guadeloupe (French Oversea Terr.)

[ba.thomassin]

Dear all,

One of my student, Nais Rochietta, in the Chemist Faculty of University of la Méditerranée in Marseilles, defended yesterday her doctoral thesis (=PhD) upon the ciguatera desease in the Western Carribean Islands : Guadeloupe and la Martinique (French oversea terrttories).
She demonstrated that the southern limit of the desease by poisonious fishes (mainly large carnivorous species) is located near the South of the Guadeloupe Island.

Most of you know that the ciguatera desease, induced by the harmful micro-algae of the "ciguateric complex" of species (Gambierdiscus toxicus, Prorocentrum spp., Ostreopsis spp. Coolia spp., etc.), is associated mostly with carbonate substrates (even coral reefs - dead reefal substrates: coral colonies, rubble and slabs), tropical seawater temperature, a little basic pH, and that these algae dont like the very turbid waters. 
These ecological conditions are also present in all the coral reef islands of the Southern Carabbean island, in the South of la Guadeloupe. But there the ciguateric desease is absent or less developped.

Do you have an opinion (or several) about the oceanographic conditions or anthropisation that could explain this limit and the difference between these two areas about these desease?
If you have papers or abstracts dealing with that subject, they will be very appreciated (as I am more customer of the Indopacific waters)

Thanking you by advance,
Very sincerely yours.

Bernard

Bernard A. THOMASSIN (Dr. océanogr., Dr. Sci.)
Océanographe / Directeur de recherche honoraire du CNRS
G.I.S. "Lag-May" (Environnement marin et littoral de l'île de Mayotte" 
et Attaché scientifique du Musée d'Histoire naturelle de la Ville de Nice
tél. GSM 06 63 14 91 78
e-mail : ba.thomassin at wanadoo.fr