Abstract
During a survey in 2015, an impressive assemblage of organisms was found in a hypersaline pond of the Messolonghi saltworks. The salinity ranged between 50 and 180 ppt, and the organisms that were found fell into the categories of Cyanobacteria (17 species), Chlorophytes (4 species), Diatoms (23 species), Dinoflagellates (1 species), Protozoa (40 species), Rotifers (8 species), Copepods (1 species), Artemia sp., one nematode and Alternaria sp. (Fungi). Fabrea salina was the most prominent protist among all samples and salinities. This ciliate has the potential to be a live food candidate for marine fish larvae. Asteromonas gracilis proved to be a sturdy microalga, performing well in a broad spectrum of culture salinities. Most of the specimens were identified to the genus level only. Based on their morphology, as there are no relevant records in Greece, there is a possibility for some to be either new species or strikingly different strains of certain species recorded elsewhere.
Highlights
It is well known that saltwork waters support high algal densities due to the abundance of nutrients concentrated by evaporation [1,2,3]
The situation is perplexing, as the topic of cyanobacteria and protists from hypersalinity is highly varied in the literature
If the cultures were protozoa, rotifers, copepods or Artemia, to start, 0.2 mL of dense phytoplankton that was previously cultured and comprised of Asteromonas gracilis and Dunaliella was added in order to supply adequate food
Summary
It is well known that saltwork waters support high algal densities due to the abundance of nutrients concentrated by evaporation [1,2,3]. Considering the scarcity of adequate information on organisms other than bacteria from hypersaline environments in Greece [13], a preliminary survey in the salterns of Messolonghi Samples were taken during April–September 2015 on a monthly basis, following the salinity range (50–180 ppt) of the changing water conditions.
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