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Something Fishy

MIT-WHOI Joint Program student Katie Pitz is on the hunt for invisible, but dangerous organisms in the tropical ocean. She is conducting research on a microscopic phytoplankton that produce toxins behind ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), a food-borne illness that sickens thousands of people each year. Pitz collects specimens of coral rubble that harbor the toxic phytoplankton Gambierdiscus. The toxins move up the food chain when fish that eat the phytoplankton are eaten by people. In an effort to combat CFP, she is identifying different Gambierdiscus species and learning how communities of the organism change over time and in different locations. (Photo by Melissa Moulton, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)