The presence of potentially toxic benthic dinoflagellates can pose a threat to the fisheries sector, the marine ecosystem and its biodiversity due to a possible bioaccumulation of their toxins in the food chain.
This community of microorganisms has not been studied before on the Levantine coast, so the LEVABENTOX project aims to provide knowledge about the state of these communities in order to support maritime spatial planning.
To this end, its spatiotemporal dynamics along the coast of Murcia and Almeria will be studied, with the participation of the fishing sector in the sampling.
At the same time, species will be cultured for morphological, molecular and toxin characterisation and thus assess the risk to food safety of their presence in the Levant.
The results obtained will be disseminated to the fishing community, administration and the general public.