JPR Advance Access published online on May 18, 2007
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm032
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TEMPORAL SUCCESSION OF TINTINNIDS IN THE NORTHERN IONIAN SEA, CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN
1 Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed Ecologia Marina, Università di Messina, Salita Sperone, MESSINA, ITALY 2 CNR-Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Sezione di Messina, Spianata S. Raineri 86, I-98122, MESSINA, ITALY
Corresponding author: Letterio Guglielmo, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed Ecologia Marina Università di Messina, Salita Sperone 31, 98166 Messina, Italy, letterio.guglielmo{at}unime.it, tel: 0039 090 394445, fax: 0039 090 393409
Received on December 7, 2006; revised on March 1, 2007; accepted on April 13, 2007
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Vertical distribution, abundance, diversity and community structure of tintinnid assemblages were investigated at monthly intervals at one fixed station in the coastal Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean, between March 2003 and May 2004. A total of 79 species belonging to 23 genera were identified; Dadayiella ganymedes, Steenstrupiella steenstrupii, Craterella torulata and Stenosemella nivalis contributed up to 50% of the tintinnid abundance. Two main changes in species composition as well as abundance were recorded, one in May and the second in November-December. In general, species richness remained unchanged along the water column (7 ± 1 species at each depth) while about 40% of the overall richness (31 species of 79) were represented by species that were found only once. H' ranged from 1.3 to 2.7, with the maximum values from September to January (H' 2.3-2.7) generally at the DCM depth. A Cluster Analysis showed that both abundance and diversity were strongly influenced by the hydrological characteristics of the site. Tintinnid diversity appeared to be positively linked to salinity (Spearman 0.47, P < 0.01) while negatively to chlorophyll. Our findings support the idea that the rapid shifts between the two dominant LOD size-classes (29 and 34 µm) could be considered a sensitive indicator of changes between coastal and pelagic ecosystems. Our data on tintinnid assemblages are coherent with those found along a longitudinal transect in the Mediterranean and contribute to the knowledge of tintinnid diversity and richness in a peculiar oceanographic coastal area of the Central Mediterranean Sea, a crucial point in the W- to E- tintinnid biogeography.
Key Words: tintinnids • diversity • ecology • Central Mediterranean
Communicating Editor: K.J. Flynn
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  R. Sitran, A. Bergamasco, F. Decembrini, and L. Guglielmo Microzooplankton (tintinnid ciliates) diversity: coastal community structure and driving mechanisms in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Western Mediterranean) J. Plankton Res., February 1, 2009; 31(2): 153 - 170. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|