A scientist from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas will be among researchers who will use a grant to investigate the causes of a kind of fish poisoning.

UTMSI scientist Deana Erdner will take part in the research, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA has awarded the first year of an expected five-year, $4 million grant to scientists researching the causes of Ciguatera fish poisoning, the most common form of algal toxin-induced seafood poisoning in the world, focusing on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.

Ciguatera affects tens of thousands of people annually, but the occurrence has been impossible to predict or manage, according to NOAA.

Erdner will be part of an international research team led by Michael Parsons, a professor of marine science and director of the Coastal Watershed Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University.