engleski

Taxonomic survey of benthic diatoms in Neum Bay, Southeastern Adriatic

The objective of this work was to contribute to the knowledge of microphytobenthos in the Adriatic Sea, by studying for the first time the benthic diatom communities in the Neum Bay in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this purpose, the benthic diatoms naturally growing on stones and macroalgae were identified at one station in the small semi- enclosed oligotrophic Neum Bay during 2010 and 2011. A total of 24 samples were collected at two different depths, 0.5 m and 8 m, and analysed with light and scanning electron microscopy. Altogether, 425 pennate and 58 centric taxa (species and infraspecific taxa) belonging to 60 families and 115 genera were noted. Genera with the greatest number of taxa were: Mastogloia (46 taxa), Navicula (36), Diploneis (35), Nitzschia (34), Amphora (31), Cocconeis (27), Achnanthes (14), Halamphora (12), Lyrella (11), and Surirella and Licmophora (10 each). Amphora bigibba var. interrupta and Cocconeis scutellum were the most frequent taxa, being present in 87.5% of the samples. In total, 142 taxa were found only once (sporadic taxa). Although benthic diatom richness is high in the bay, taxa are apparently not distributed evenly temporally. Consistent quantitative and qualitative data are still needed to better determine the seasonal and spatial changes of the epilithic assemblages in the region.

Bacillariophyta ; shallow oligotrophic bay ; species identification ; biodiversity ; Bosnia and Herzegovina

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