EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, LIGHT, AND SALINITY ON CELL DIVISION OF THE MARINE DIATOM, DETONULA CONFERVACEA (CLEVE) GRAN(2).

Abstract

The influence of 116 combinations of temperature (2, 7, 12, 16 C), salinity (5-35‰ at 5‰ intervals) and light (5 levels) on the mean daily cell division rate (K) of the Narragansett Bay clone of Detonula confervacea was examined following appropriate preconditioning. Growth did not occur at 16 C, but was excellent (K = 1.2-1.5) under certain combinations of light and salinity at 2, 7, and 12 C, being somewhat better at the 2 highest temperature levels. At 32%, and 1100-1200 ft-c, K increased approximately 2.5 fold from 0.6 to 1.5 between 2 and 12 C. A light-temperature relationship was found which had the general trend of an increased optimal light intensity with increasing temperature. Within the optimal salinity range of 15-30‰, the optimal light intensity was 200-600 ft-c at 2 C, 600-1200 ft-c at 7 C, and 1200-1800 ft-c at 12 C. The light-temperature relationship was most pronounced at 2 and 12 C. At 2 C, K decreased with increasing light intensity, but was independent of this factor at higher temperatures. The optimal salinity range of 15-30‰ was independent of temperature negligible growth occurred at 5‰. In situ and in vitro responses of Detonula confervacea to salinity were in general agreement but its pronounced cryophilic preference in nature (usually reaching maximum abundance below 1 C) contrasts with its excellent growth at 12 C in culture. The experiments suggest that termination of the bloom of Detonula confervacea in Narragansett Bay and elsewhere is not solely temperature-dependent. Temperature does not satisfactorily account for its apparent exclusion from waters contiguous to Narragansett Bay and from other more northerly portions of the northeastern coast of the U.S, or, together with light, for its equally surprising apparent unimportance in Norwegian coastal waters.