Colón-Ortiz, Lourdes.

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    Species richness of cyanobacteria, diatoms, and ciliates in microbial mats of the Cabo Rojo salterns, Puerto Rico
    (2008) Colón-Ortiz, Lourdes.; Santos-Flores, Carlos J.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Acosta Mercado, Dimaris; Montalvo Rodríguez, Rafael; Ríos Velázquez, Carlos; Department of Biology; Alston, Dallas E.
    Seasonal rains and the inflowof seawater into the Cabo Rojo salterns, Puerto Rico, induce changes in the concentration of dissolved salts. These environmental variations should have an effect in the composition and species richness of the microbial mats in these salterns. The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in the richness of cyanobacteria when a decrease in salinity occurs. Three stations were selected and three aquaria without bottoms were set per station. Treatments of sterilized seawater, distilled water, and a control with ambient water from the same station were maintained in situ. Samples were analyzed after 24 and 72 hours and the procedure was repeated at different hydroperiods. The treatments showed no differences in the composition of the mat. Nevertheless, for the hydroperiod that comprised the dry season with high levels of seawater, there was a shift from the dominant filamentous cyanobacteria to the coccoid ones when the salinity decreased below 20 ppt. In general, 12 species of cyanobacteria were identified with Microcoleus chtonoplastes the most abundant, followed by the coccoid, Aphanothece granulosa. Diatoms and ciliates were also characterized. Nineteen species of diatoms were identified, where the most abundant were Nitzschia lanceolata, Navicula spp., and Mastogloia braunii. The most frequent ciliates were Fabrea (F. salina) and Nassula sp.