Global distribution of the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa

Historically, species in the genus Gambierdiscus Adachi & Fukuyo were viewed as pantropical organisms distributed between 35°N and 34°S and ubiquitous throughout the Caribbean, the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, Australia and the Indian Ocean. Between 2016 and 2017 four new species were added to the genus Gambierdiscus from the South Pacific Ocean. In addition, four new species have been described in areas where Gambierdiscus was previously unknown, including two from the Canary Islands, one from Japan and another from Korea. In total, there are now sixteen described Gambierdiscus species and three species of Fukuyoa, a closely related genus, previously included in the genus Gambierdiscus. Among these nineteen species, and several, as yet, unsubscribed species (ribotypes), toxicity varies significantly. To better understand the distribution of these species, occurrence data from recently published literature (ca. 2009 – 2018) and two culture collections, where species identification was confirmed molecularly, were collated and archived in the biogeography of harmful algal species (HABMAP) subsection of the IOC-UNESCO Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). This manuscript represents a demonstration project illustrating how the spatially distributed HABMAP data can be employed to visualize the global distribution of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa species. These data will also inform the ISSHA-IOC contribution to the first Global HAB Status Report describing the global distribution of all toxin-producing microalgae in OBIS.