Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Correlation of phytoplankton density with certain hydrological parameters along the coastal waters of Veraval, Gujarat

Volume 57 Issue 2

G. S. Temkar, P. Abdul Azeez, K. M. Sikotaria1,V. T. Brahmane1, S. Y. Metar, S. S. Gangan, K. L. Mathew and A. Y. Desai

10.6024/jmbai.2015.57.2.01870-10

Abstract

The present study was conducted to study the biological diversity of phytoplankton and the impact of abiotic factors on them along coastal waters at two locations viz., Location-1 (Jaleshwar) and Location-2 (Sagareshwar Mandir), Veraval from May 2012 to April 2013. Six classes of marine phytoplankton were identified from these locations. Out of the total 162 species of marine phytoplankton collected, nine could not be identified. Diatoms were the dominant group (133 spp.) followed by dianoflagellates (12 spp.), blue-green algae, brown or orange chromatophores and green algae. The correlation between the density of phytoplankton with the environmental variables viz., Dissolved Oxygen and pH were significantly positive, whereas it was inversely correlated with temperature and salinity. The density of phytoplankton, ranged from 4,90,495 to 8,57,160 cells L-1 and 3,87,495 to 8,65,665 cells L-1 at Location-1 and Location-2 respectively. Phytoplankton cell count was the highest and lowest in January and March respectively and the diversity was higher in winter than other seasons. The diversity of marine phytoplankton was very high along the coastal waters of Veraval (at both the locations of study) which confirms that the Veraval coastline is very productive and supportive for fish production and also for other marine biodiversity.

Keywords

Phytoplankton, abiotic factors, seasonal variation, density, Veraval coast

Date : 20-12-2015