Toxic banks: encysted resting stages in Haifa Port, Israel

Shipping-mediated introduction and transfer of alien and harmful biota increase with fleet and port expansion. The Mediterranean is a key world maritime route but only voluntary arrangements for ballast water management. Encysted resting stages in the sediments in the port of Haifa, Israel, were sampled on the eve of a major port enlargement project, with the aim of recording the diversity and abundance of the assemblages. Our findings reveal among the cysts present the potentially toxic bloom-forming Scrippsiella trochoidea, and the potentially toxic Alexandrium minutum and Gymnodinium uncatenatum associated with Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning.