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On the Occurrence of Trichodesmium Erythraeum (Ehr.) Bloom in the Coastal Waters of Kalpakkam, East Coast of India


Affiliations
1 Environmetal & Industrial Safety Section, Safety Group, Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Center for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai- 600 025
3 National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai- 601 302
4 National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai- 601 302, India
5 Center for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai- 600 025, India
 

A prominent discolouration of the coastal waters by the blue-green alga Trichodesmium erythraeum was encountered in the east coast of Kalpakkam on 16th March 2007. The bloom persisted only for one day exhibiting visible alteration in physico-chemical properties and phytoplankton community structure of the coastal waters. The Trichodesmium cell density was 4.14 x 106 cells l-1, sharing 74.19 % of the total cell count (5.57 x 106 cells l-1). Only 24 species of phytoplankton were encountered on the day of bloom as compared to the highest number of 44 species in a single observation during pre- and post-bloom periods (1st March to 29th March). Concentration of chlorophyll-a and phaeopigments increased to about 20 times on the day of bloom compared to the pre-bloom values. An abrupt increase in ammonia, total nitrogen and phosphate was noticed on the day of bloom. The impact of this bloom on coastal water quality is reported.

Keywords

Trichodesmium Erythraeum, Algae, Bloom, Marine Cyanobacterium, East Coast, India
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  • On the Occurrence of Trichodesmium Erythraeum (Ehr.) Bloom in the Coastal Waters of Kalpakkam, East Coast of India

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Authors

K. K. Satpathy
Environmetal & Industrial Safety Section, Safety Group, Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102, Tamil Nadu, India
A. K. Mohanty
Center for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai- 600 025
G. Sahu
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai- 601 302
M. V. R. Prasad
Environmetal & Industrial Safety Section, Safety Group, Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102, Tamil Nadu, India
R. Venkatesan
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai- 601 302, India
U. Natesan
Center for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai- 600 025, India
M. Rajan
Environmetal & Industrial Safety Section, Safety Group, Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract


A prominent discolouration of the coastal waters by the blue-green alga Trichodesmium erythraeum was encountered in the east coast of Kalpakkam on 16th March 2007. The bloom persisted only for one day exhibiting visible alteration in physico-chemical properties and phytoplankton community structure of the coastal waters. The Trichodesmium cell density was 4.14 x 106 cells l-1, sharing 74.19 % of the total cell count (5.57 x 106 cells l-1). Only 24 species of phytoplankton were encountered on the day of bloom as compared to the highest number of 44 species in a single observation during pre- and post-bloom periods (1st March to 29th March). Concentration of chlorophyll-a and phaeopigments increased to about 20 times on the day of bloom compared to the pre-bloom values. An abrupt increase in ammonia, total nitrogen and phosphate was noticed on the day of bloom. The impact of this bloom on coastal water quality is reported.

Keywords


Trichodesmium Erythraeum, Algae, Bloom, Marine Cyanobacterium, East Coast, India

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst%2F2007%2Fv1i2%2F29204