Development of Trachelomonas species (Euglenophyta) during blooming of Planktothrix agardhii (Cyanoprokaryota)

¹ Department of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biology, University of Białystok, Świerkowa 20B, 15-950 Białystok, Poland
² W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, 31-512 Kraków, Lubicz 46, Poland

^* Corresponding author: magra@uwb.edu.pl

Received: 6 May 2013
Accepted: 14 October 2013

Abstract

This paper reports data on a community of Trachelomonas species (Euglenophyta) occurring during Planktothrix agardhii bloom formation in a shallow, highly eutrophic dam reservoir. The results come from a long-term study of Siemianówka Dam Reservoir, located on the upper Narew River (NE Poland). From April to October 2007, 132 alga taxa were identified, including 32 Trachelomonas taxa, 23 of which are new for the reservoir; of those, three are first records for Poland: T. armata (Ehrenberg) Stein var. heterospina Swirenko, T. atomaria Skvortzov var. minor Hortobagi and T. minima Dreżepolski. One variety, T. curta var. pappilata Wołowski, is described as new for science. The ultrastructural details of Trachelomonas species are illustrated. The highest number of Trachelomonas taxa was recorded in August in the shore zone of the reservoir. At the end of summer 2007, the conspicuous development of P. agardhii (Gomont) Anagnostidis et Komarek, caused a rapid decrease of Trachelomonas biomass due to lower water transparency and the oxygen concentration. In addition, a decline in the Trachelomonas taxa and biomass was associated with a decrease of water temperature. The negative impact of extracellular microcystin on the Trachelomonas development requires further study.