Estimation of bioluminescence intensity of the dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans, Polykrikos kofoidii, and Alexandrium mediterraneum populations in Korean waters using cell abundance and water temperature

Many dinoflagellates produce bioluminescence. To estimate the intensity of bioluminescence produced by populations of the heterotrophic dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans and Polykrikos kofoidii and autotrophic dinoflagellate Alexandrium mediterraneum in Korean waters, we measured cellular bioluminescence intensity as a function of water temperature and calculated population bioluminescence intensity with cell abundances and water temperature. The mean 200-second-integrated bioluminescence intensity per cell (BL_cell) of N. scintillans satiated with the chlorophyte Dunaliella salina decreased continuously with increasing water temperature from 5 to 25°C. However, the BL_cell of P. kofoidii satiated with the mixotrophic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum continuously increased from 5 to 15°C but decreased at temperatures exceeding this (to 30°C). Similarly, the BL_cell of A. mediterraneum continuously increased from 10 to 20°C but decreased between 20 and 30°C. The difference between highest and lowest BL_cell of N. scintillans, P. kofoidii, and A. mediterraneum at the tested water temperatures was 3.5, 11.8, and 21.0 times, respectively, indicating that water temperature clearly affected BL_cell. The highest estimated population bioluminescence intensity (BL_popul) of N. scintillans in Korean waters in 1998–2022 was 4.22 × 10¹³ relative light unit per liter (RLU L^-1), which was 1,850 and 554,000 times greater than that of P. kofoidii and A. mediterraneum, respectively. This indicates that N. scintillans populations produced much brighter bioluminescence in Korean waters than the populations of P. kofoidii or A. mediterraneum.