Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 2/6/2009

Question
I live in the Fort Worth, Texas area. There is a golden algie in thia area. What can you tell me or whom may be able to tell me about this stuff? We will be fishing Possum Kingdom Lake next weekend and has an outbreak going on at this time.  We need to clean our boats, trailers, and live wells to prevent this from spreading. WHAT KILLS this and how long does this live if the boat is not in the water? I have heard bleach, or what is on the market that is accessable to us to clean our equipment?
Thank you:
Jim

Answer
Hi Jim:  Thanks for your question.

Golden algae are single celled photosynthetic organisms that can be quite invasive and cause fish kills.  Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysophyta;  http://twri.tamu.edu/news/2008/07/24/a-golden-opportunity/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061009130955.htm


I can't speak directly to the mechanisms of killing, but certainly if they dry out they will die.  Dilute bleach will also certainly work.

You can go to the Texas Department of Agriculture website:
http://www.agr.state.tx.us/agr/index/0,1911,1848_0_0_0,00.html
There's a "contact us" link in the lower right corner.

Yes, I searched the site for "golden algae" and came up empty.  I guess you'll have to call them.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

FM Rollwagen, PhD