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First recorded proliferation of Coolia monotis (Meunier, 1919) in the North Lake of Tunis (Tunisia) correlation with environmental factors

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Abstract

Coolia monotis is a potentially toxic epiphytic dinoflagellate widespread along the Mediterranean coasts, where it is frequently detected year round at low concentrations. However, it only proliferates recurrently in some localities. The North Lake of Tunis is one of the affected areas in the southwestern part of the Mediterranean Sea. This site is one of the most productive aquatic Tunisian areas (Recreational Fisheries and shellfish collecting). In the south part of this area of study, recurrent C. monotis proliferation (5 ×105 cells per liter) took place in late spring and early summer of 2006. During this proliferation, the spatial distribution of C. monotis species, phytoplankton community, and abiotic factors were studied. The composition of the phytoplankton community exhibited a clear dominance of dinoflagellates over other genera. We suggest that proliferation development of C. monotis was linked to climatic conditions, water temperature (r = 0.24, p < 0.05) and high concentrations of nitrogenous nutrients, essentially NH4 +  (r = 0.18, p < 0.05) and NO3 −  (r = 0.21, p < 0.05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut National des Sciences et Technologie de la Mer, Port de pêche, La Goulette, Tunis, Tunisia

    Zina Armi & Souad Turki

  2. Département Halieutique, Institut National Agronomique de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia

    Zina Armi

  3. Laboratoire des analyses de l’eau de mer, Société de Promotion du Lac de Tunis, Les berges du Lac, Tunis, Tunisia

    Elbahri Trabelsi & Naceur Ben Maiz

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  1. Zina Armi
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  2. Souad Turki
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  3. Elbahri Trabelsi
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  4. Naceur Ben Maiz
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Correspondence to Zina Armi.

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Armi, Z., Turki, S., Trabelsi, E. et al. First recorded proliferation of Coolia monotis (Meunier, 1919) in the North Lake of Tunis (Tunisia) correlation with environmental factors. Environ Monit Assess 164, 423–433 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0903-z

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