K. David Hambright

Golden algae in Lake Texoma
The toxic golden algae, Prymnesium parvum , first appeared in Lake Texoma during the winter of 2004 (January – March), causing substantial fish kills in several embayments, such as Lebanon Pool and the mouth of Big Mineral Creek.   No bloom occurred in the winter of 2005, but blooms and fish kills occurred again in Lebanon Pool in the winters of 2006 and of 2007.   We know little regarding factors affecting susceptibility to P. parvum toxins of the various sport and recreational fishes in Lake Texoma, nor of the ecological role that P. parvum may play at the base of the Lake Texoma food web as both food for and competitors with herbivorous zooplankton, the primary food base for all YOY fish in the lake, as well as for most forage species, such as threadfin shad.  

The scale of P. parvum blooms in Lake Texoma seems somewhat limited—the 2004 and current 2007 blooms were restricted to a few areas around the lake (i.e., from Lebanon Pool to Buncombe Creek on the Oklahoma side and from Slicum Sough to Cedar Bayou on the Texas side), while the 2006 bloom occurred only in Lebanon Pool.   The 2007 bloom was also limited mostly to Lebanon Pool, although small-scale fish kills were recorded in other Red River arm sites, such as Buncombe Creek. Although the severity of golden algae blooms and fish kills in Lake Texoma have been relatively mild compared with several Texas reservoirs, experience gained from lakes in Texas, where P. parvum has existed since 1985 (TPWD), indicates that such blooms could become a common feature of Lake Texoma and that the blooms could even intensify in their effects on the ecosystem.   Future blooms of P. parvum could potentially wreak havoc, both ecologically and economically, on the Lake Texoma fishery.   Our present laboratory- and field-based research aims to provide basic toxicological and ecological knowledge of this invading species that will enhance the capabilities of lake managers in their efforts to predict and possibly control these harmful blooms in Lake Texoma and throughout Oklahoma.

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