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Preponderance of a few diatom species among the highly diverse microphytoplankton assemblages in the Bay of Bengal

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Abstract

The microphytoplankton assemblages were studied from water samples collected at eight discrete depths in the top 120 m at five central (open ocean) and four western (shelf/slope region) locations in the Bay of Bengal. The Bay is a low-productive warm pool regime with poor inorganic nutrient inputs to its intensely stratified surface layer despite the very large riverine influx. In addition, the prolonged cloud cover has an adverse effect on the top 25–40 m, on primary production, chlorophyll concentration and phytoplankton assemblages. Microphytoplankton were the most abundant in the northern area of the Bay. A total of 153 phytoplankton species were identified during this study. The most abundant species (at least 1,800 individual cells belonging to a given species or ≥2% of the total counts of identified specimens) during this study were: Thalassiothrix longissima, Thalassiothrix fauenfeldii, Rhizosolenia styliformis, Nitzschia angularis, Thalassionema nitzschioides, Coscinodiscus radiatus, Chaetoceros eibenii, Skeletonema costatum, Coscinodiscus concinnus and Chaetoceros coarctatus. Similarly, there were 20 moderately abundant (≥0.5 but <2%) species. Thirty-three of the least abundant species (<0.5%) occurred at one station. Diatom species, T. fauenfeldii and T. longissima were ubiquitous in the study area. The exclusive occurrence of S. costatum in the northernmost stations suggests that it proliferates only in the low-salinity regions with adequate silica from the land inputs. Abundance of pennate diatoms was higher in the open Bay compared to that of centric diatoms in the more productive northern locations and the western Bay. There appears to be a basic difference between near shore flora and offshore flora. This first analysis of phytoplankton assemblages from the offshore Bay suggests that while there is predominance of only a few species, the Bay harbors very diverse diatom communities that seem to be syntrophic, non-competitive and co-habiting in the generally low nutrient, stratified surface waters.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Department of Ocean Development, New Delhi, for financial support for this research under the Bay of Bengal Process Studies programme. We thank Dr. Aditi Pant, Dr. N. Anand, University of Madras and V.T. Shridharan, Reader, University of Tiruchirapally for confirming the identification of many phytoplankton species. JTP and VF acknowledge the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi for an award of Senior Research Fellowship. We are grateful to Late Dr. M. Madhupratap for his leadership and many advices. The crew and all participants of SK 166 are thanked for their help. Comments of three anonymous reviewers were very helpful in improving this manuscript. This is NIO contribution No: 4235.

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  1. National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403 004, India

    Jane T. Paul, Nagappa Ramaiah, Mangesh Gauns & Veronica Fernandes

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  1. Jane T. Paul
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  2. Nagappa Ramaiah
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  4. Veronica Fernandes
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Correspondence to Nagappa Ramaiah.

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Communicated by A. McLachlan.

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Paul, J.T., Ramaiah, N., Gauns, M. et al. Preponderance of a few diatom species among the highly diverse microphytoplankton assemblages in the Bay of Bengal. Mar Biol 152, 63–75 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0657-5

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