Phytoplankton Species Composition in the Turkish Coast of the Aegean Sea between 2014 and 2016

Abstract

The research was carried out between 2014 and 2016, within the scope of the ‘National Integrated Marine Pollution Monitoring Program,’ in a total of five seasonal cruises at 22 stations along the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea. A total of 296 phytoplankton species and one subspecies belonging to 12 classes were identified from samples collected during the five seasonal cruises. The highest diversity was observed in the summer of 2015, with 204 species recorded, while the lowest was 137 species in the summer of 2016. Dinoflagellates dominated the species composition, accounting for 51% of the species, followed by diatoms (44%), and other groups (5%). At the genus level, Chaetoceros, Thalassiosira, Bacteriastrum, and Coscinodiscus were the most dominant diatom genus, whereas Protoperidinium, Tripos, Dinophysis, Oxytoxum, and Prorocentrum were dominant among dinoflagellates. Amphisolenia schauinslandii Lemmermann 1899 and Ceratoperidinium margalefii A.R. Loeblich III 1980 were recorded for the first time along the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the phytoplankton taxonomic diversity in the region from to 2014-2016.