First evidence on occurrence of gymnodimine in clams from Tunisia.

Among several batches of clams harvested in Tunisia and imported to France, a small number of them were found to be neurotoxic to mice (intraperitoneal injection) as determined by the diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) bioassay developed by Yasumoto et al. (1978). The present study was conducted to confirm the nature of the toxic agent, suspected to be gymnodimine. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analyses unequivocally revealed the presence of gymnodimine in the shellfish, making Tunisia the second country, after New Zealand, where shellfish contamination with this phycotoxin is reported. Gymnodimine B and C analogues were not detected in the clam samples. Gymnodimine preferentially accumulates in the digestive gland of the Tunisian clams, although substantial amounts are also found in the meat.