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Microcystis blooms and the subsequent impact of their toxins, particularly microcystin (MC), on coastal ecosystems are emerging threats. This talk presents the species-specific effects of MC, the potential for bioconcentration, and ecophysiological responses. The brackish water flea, Diaphanosoma celebensis showed antioxidant responses measured at the molecular to enzyme levels to MC-LR exposure. We extended our experiments to measure the released MC and its uptake by D. celebensis exposed to lgal bloomed river water for short exposure (48 h), showing that D. celebensis assimilated more than 50pg MC per individual. The significant increase of MCs suggests the potential of accumulation for this species. In a field study, several organisms also showed significant MC concentrations although its transfer was n