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Seasonal variations in species composition, abundance, biomass and production rate of tintinnids (Ciliata: Protozoa) along the Hooghly (Ganges) River Estuary, India: a multivariate approach

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Abstract

The study is the first documentation of seasonal variations in species composition, abundance and diversity of tintinnid (Ciliata: Protozoa), in relation to water quality parameters along the stretch of the Hooghly (Ganges) River Estuary (HRE), eastern coastal part of India. A total of 26 species (22 agglomerated and 4 non-agglomerated) belonging to 8 genera has been identified from 8 study sites where Tintinnopsis (17 species) represented the most dominant genera, contributing up to 65 % of total tintinnid community followed by Tintinnidium (2 species), Leprotintinnus (2 species) and Dadayiella, Favella, Metacylis, Eutintinnus and Helicostomella (each with solitary species). The maximum (1,666 ind. l−1) and minimum (62 ind. l−1) abundance of tintinnids was recorded during post-monsoon and monsoon, respectively. A distinct seasonal dynamics in terms of biomass (0.005–2.465 μg C l−1) and daily production rate (0.04–3.13 μg C l−1 day−1) was also noticed, accounting highest value during pre-monsoon. Chlorophyll a and nitrate were found to be potential causative factors for the seasonal variations of tintinnids as revealed by a stepwise multiple regression model. The result of ANOVA showed a significant variation between species abundance and months (F = 2.36, P ≤ 0.05). k-dominance curves were plotted to determine the comparison of tintinnid dominance between the investigated stations. Based on a principal component analysis (PCA), three main groups were delineated with tintinnid ciliates and environmental parameters. The changes in lorica morphology in terms of temperature and salinity, recorded for three dominant species, provided information on the ecological characteristics of the species assemblage in this estuarine system.

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Acknowledgments

The research work was financially supported by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India [sanction no. F. no.: 40(388)/2011(SR)] in a project titled “Biodiversity of Microzooplankton along the lower stretch of Ganges (Hooghly) River, west Bengal with special emphasis on Tintinnids (Ciliata: Protozoa)”. The first author is grateful to UGC for awarding him a research fellowship. Authors are greatly indebted to Dr. J. R. Dolan, from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France for the identification as well as for the microphotographs of the tintinnids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 700 019, India

    Dibyendu Rakshit, Sejuti Naha Biswas, Santosh Kumar Sarkar & Bhaskar Deb Bhattacharya

  2. Academic Staff College & Centre for Ocean and Coastal Studies (COCS), University of Madras, Chepauk Campus, Chennai, 600 005, India

    Nallamuthu Godhantaraman

  3. Environment and Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, 603 102, India

    Kamala Kanta Satpathy

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  1. Dibyendu Rakshit
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  2. Sejuti Naha Biswas
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Correspondence to Santosh Kumar Sarkar.

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Rakshit, D., Biswas, S.N., Sarkar, S.K. et al. Seasonal variations in species composition, abundance, biomass and production rate of tintinnids (Ciliata: Protozoa) along the Hooghly (Ganges) River Estuary, India: a multivariate approach. Environ Monit Assess 186, 3063–3078 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3601-9

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