Temporal distribution of tintinnid ciliates (Ciliophora: Tintinnina) via daily monitoring in Jangmok Bay, south coast of Korea, with an emphasis on Helicostomella subulata (Ehrenberg, 1833) Jorgensen,

Abstract

The species-specific abundance of marine tintinnid plankton ciliates were determined based on the samples collected daily from August 2008 to March 2010 in Jangmok Bay of Geoje Island, south coast of Korea. Environmental parameters were also examined. A total of 40 tintinnid ciliate taxa belonging to 9 families and 18 genera were recorded during the sampling period. Tintinnid communities presented a clear seasonal pattern in terms of abundance. Higher ciliate abundances appeared from June to October during warm season (water temperature >20􀄇) with the maximum abundance at 5.7×105 cells L-1 recorded in August 2008, while the lower abundances were found during the cold season (January and February with water temperature about 7-8􀄇). The temporal succession of dominant species was clear and opportunistic which suggested that the indicative ciliate species can be applied as a biological tool to monitor environmental change in the Korean southern coastal waters. Furthermore, morphological variability of a hyaline species, Helicostomella subulata which has a cosmopolitan distribution and was a dominant species during summer season, was also studied and for the first time, its phylogenetic position was revealed based on the SSrRNA sequence.