The effects of Heterosigma Akashiwo on fish eggs.
Heterosigma Akashiwo is a toxic alga. They are single celled eukaryotic organisms. This specific alga is best known for its massive destruction on wildlife around it. These include such animals as finfish, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and invertebrates. One example would be the sea urchin, if some sea urchin were to try and reproduce within the presence of Heterosigma, the egg and the sperm would not be able to combine to form a zygote. When the alga is in the best conditions for growth it will double its population every 24 hours.
One of the big experiments that will be done this summer is one that involves fish, fish eggs, and Heterosigma. We will be studying the effects of Heterosigma on the fish eggs. The information that we plan on obtaining are things like if the eggs die over a certain amount of time, if they die at all, or at what concentration of Heterosigma can the eggs survive up to.
