LOW LIGHT PHYTOPLANKTON GENERA OBSERVED IN THE COASTAL AND ESTUARINE WATERS OF GOA, INDIA

R. RAMAKRISHNAN
2018 Applied Ecology and Environmental Research  
This is the first study carried-out to understand the phytoplankton genera in the low light (less than 50 μmol/m 2 /s of photosynthetically available radiation) for the estuarine and coastal waters of Goa, India. There were 93 phytoplankton genera observed of which the most abundant were Skeletonema spp., Leptocylindrus spp., Thalassiosira spp., Cerataulina sp., and Fragilariopsis sp. The centric diatom Skeletonema spp. was the most abundant phytoplankton genera observed during all the seasons.
more » ... Similarly, other abundant genera observed all through the year in low light in the coastal and estuarine waters were Cerataulina sp., Chaetoceros spp., Coscinodiscus spp., Leptocylindrus spp., Navicula spp., Nitzschia spp., Pleurosigma spp., Pseudo-nitzschia spp., and Thalassiosira spp. Phytoplankton observed only in estuarine waters were Bacillaria sp., Planktoniella sp., Biddulphia sp., and Asterionellopsis spp., while Enotia sp., Oxytoxum sp., were observed only in the coastal waters during the summer season. Contributions of chlorophyll a and fucoxanthin were relatively higher in low light regions, while the photoprotective pigment β-carotene was lower than observed at the surface. The maximum spectral light available at the low light region varied for water types, and was 537 to 581 nm in the coastal waters, while it shifted to longer wavelengths 561 to 648 in the estuarine waters.
doi:10.15666/aeer/1602_17831796 fatcat:zp5rejsvxfghxektuwm5gkei7e