Diatoms of the Puck Bay coastal shallows (Poland, Southern Baltic)

Abstract

In the study area 150 diatom taxa were identified, including several varieties. The characteristic feature of the community is the strong predominance of several epipsammic diatom species of which Achnanthes delicatula, Fragilaria construens var. venter, Navicula cryptolyra, and Opephora olsenii are the most abundant. The predominating taxa are autochthonous in the study area and their percent content ranges from 70 to 90%. In the sediments studied there was also a large group of species which are typical of the Puck Bay interior. They are usually represented by several specimens showing various degrees of destruction. Only few of them attain in the study area considerable percent contents e.g. Achnanthes lemmermanni, Amphora acutiuscula, Cocconeis scutellum, Diploneis interrupta, Navicula rhynchocephala, N. perminuta, Nitzschia frustulum and N. nana. Numerous taxa reported in the paper are recorded in the study area for the first time.