Abstract

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a major concern for Chilean scientists and governmental authorities, due to their deleterious effects on the aquaculture industry, resulting in complex sanitary, economic, and social problems. Increasingly, intense and frequent HABs events have distressed the aquaculture industry in recent years, especially for the occurrence of previously unreported toxic microalgae species. In the context of HAB monitoring programs, we review recent major advances in new approaches that have enabled deeper understanding of HAB species diversity in Chile. In particular, molecular approaches have revealed exceptional cryptic diversity, and chemotaxonomic approaches exposed the presence of new phycotoxins belonging to still undetected HAB species using conventional light microscopy. New advances in the detection of ichthyotoxins through the use of a fish cell line assay promises an early incorporation of this technique in routine monitoring of community composition. Emerging imaging flow cytometry is progressively pushing monitoring to more automated capabilities, and citizen science is gradually involving local communities in the complex phenomenon of harmful algal blooms.