Basic HTML Version
International Journal of Aquaculture 2012, Vol.2, No.1, 1
-
4
http://ija.sophiapublisher.com
1
A Letter Open Access
Planktonic Ciliata, Species Composition and Population Changes Relative to
Some Ecological Parameters in Noruzlo Dam Reservoir (Zarrineh River, Iran)
Mohsenpour Azari A.
1,2
, Mohebbi F.
2
, Seidgar M.
2
, Agamaliyev F.G.
1
, Aliyev A.R.
3
,
1. Baku State University, Azerbaijan
2. Department of Ecology, Westocentral Asian Artemia Reference Center, P.O. Box 368, Uremia, Iran
3. Azarbayjan MEA Zoologiya Institute, Azerbaijan
Corresponding authors email:
ali1345176@yahoo.com;
Authors
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2012, Vol.2, No.1 doi: 10.5376/ija.2012.02.0001
Received: 20 Apr., 2012
Accepted: 25 Apr., 2012
Published: 09 May, 2012
This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Mohsenpour Azari et al., 2012, Planktonic Ciliata, Species Composition and Population Changes Relative to Some Ecological Parameters in Noruzlo Dam
Reservoir (Zarrineh River, Iran), International Journal of Aquaculture, Vol.2, No.1 1-4 (doi: 10.5376/ija.2012. 02.0001)
Abstract
The abundance and species composition of ciliata were analysed in the Noruzlo Dam reservoir (west Azerbaijan, Iran)
from January to December 2008. Surface water samples were monthly collected at four sampling sites. Three samples were taken in
the water column by means of a 5
-
litre sampler, totally 30 liters was collected, 200 ml of which was fixed immediately with 8.6 mL
of a saturated HgCl
2
solution and stained with 0.04% bromophenol blue. Three subsamples were counted in a 5 mL chamber and
examined with a microscope (100×) as well as Chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, pH, transperancy and water temperature were
measured. A total of 43 ciliates species were identified, high-density period was detected in February (3.93×10
3
cells/L), while the
lowest-density period was detected in October (0.76×10
3
cells/L). The summer development of ciliata was accompanying with a
development of bacteria and moderate metazooplankton densities due to the appearance of non-edible algae
.
Paradileptus
elephantinus
,
Eoleps hirtus
,
Stentor polymorphus
,
Paramecium bursaria
,
Cyclidium citrullus
,
Condylostoma rugosum
,
Pleuronema
coronatum and Aspidisca costata
were abundant among the other species
.
The maximum and minimum chlorophyll-a values
(8.7 µg/L and 0.54 µg/L) were recorded in May and Octobor respectively. According to the obtained data, we may conclude that the
Noruzlo dam reservoir was a mesotrophic during the studied period.
Keywords
Iran; West Azerbaijan; Noruzlo dam reservoir; Ciliata; Density
Introduction
Zarrinehrud is one of the largest rivers in northwest of
Iran and the biggest in Urmia Lake basin. The Noruzlo
dam reservoir is located on this river. The ecological
role of planktonic cilliates as trophic links between
bacteria and pelagic zooplankton has been increasingly
appreciated during recent years (Foissner et al., 1999).
Ciliata are known to play an important role by
consuming bacteria and thus reducing their numbers
in environments rich in organic matter (Javornicry and
Perokesova, 1963). They also consume phytoplankton
(Brook, 1952) and are consumed by Cladocera,
Copepoda and Rotifera (Rerk et al., 1977). Besides
they are highly efficient in releasing phosphorus
(Porter et al., 1979). Studying zooplankton cycle in a
marine environment has indicated that protozoa act as
a link between small planktonic organisms and large
metazooplanktonic herbivores in the food chain of the
sea (Smetacek, 1981). Grazing on autotrophic and
heterotrophic pico and nanoplankton and functioning
as prey for larger zooplankton as well as, contribute to
the remineralization and cycling of nutrients (Blomqvist
et al., 2001; Ventela et al., 2002). In total, ciliata
populations play a pivotal role as a bioindicator of
pollution degree in lakes. Sonntag et al (2002),
Alekperov (1977) and Mohsenpour Azary et al (2010)
suggested that the mean number of ciliata species in
Mangirchober, Varvara and Jeiranbatal reservoirs were
50, 91 and 81 respectively. Moreover, the average
density of ciliate in Mangirchober, Varvara and
Jeiranbatal reservoirs were 5 138, 38 901 and 13 413
(Ind/L) respectively. On the other hand, they
concluded that Mangirchober reservoir was mesotroph,
while the two other reservoirs were eutroph. The
studies on the ciliata composition of freshwater are
faint in Iran. Thus the present study was undertaken to
investigate the abundance and frequency of planktonic
cilliates relative to some ecological parameters in the
middle and shallow area of Noruzlo dam reservoir.
1 Results
The physical and chemical parameters variations of
water in Noruzlo reservoir are shown in Table 1.
Chlorophyll-a fluctuation showed two distinct phases: