Phytoplankton composition and distribution along the Albanian coast, South Adriatic Sea

The present study was conducted within the framework of the INTERREG II Italy-Albania Project. Water samples were collected during two cruises carried out in October 2000 and April 2001. This study represents the first survey of the phytoplankton assemblages along the entire Albanian coast in the South Adriatic Sea. A total of 119 counting categories were recorded; 98 of them were identified to the species level, 13 to the genus level, while 8 remained undetermined. The Shannon diversity index (H’) and evenness (J’) values were typical of temperate marine coastal areas. Low total abundances were registered (from 32x103cells L-1 to 115x103 cells L-1), confirming the pronounced oligotrophy of the region, with the dominance of the nanoplanktonic component (mostly phytoflagellates <10µm). The highest densities were found at the off-shore stations, according to a wider pattern of distribution, characteristic of the whole Adriatic Sea. The diatoms, Thalassionema frauenfeldii, Thalassionema nitzschioides and many species belonging to the genus Navicula, besides the dinoflagellates, Gymnodinium sp., Heterocapsa niei and Oxytoxum variabile, were particularly abundant. Emiliania huxleyi dominated the coccolithophorid community in both seasons. Among the identified taxa, 2 dinoflagellate species, Centrodinium elongatum and Cochlodinium polykrikoides, are reported for the first time from the Adriatic Sea.