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NSave Nature to Survive

4(1) : 73-76, 2010QUARTERLY

OCCURRENCE OF PHYTOPLANKTON IN THE WATER BODIES OF

MIRAJ TAHASIL OF MAHARASHTRA

LEELA J. BHOSALE*, S. M. PATIL, SUREKHA N. DHUMAL AND S. S. SATHE1

Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur - 416 0041Department of Botany, P. D. V.P. Mahavidyalaya, Tasgoan - 416 312

E-mail: ljbhosale@yahoo.com

INTRODUCTION

The number of man-made water bodies is increasing day-by-day. They need to

be investigated for the biological parameters. These water bodies are surrounded

by the catchment area which imparts characters to the water body. In recent

years wetlands, lakes and ponds have received attention of researchers because

of environmental aspects. The water bodies are also important from the point of

view of primary productivity. The primary productivity of lake depends, obviously,

on aquatic producers which are planktonic forms called phytoplankton. Some of

the species of phytoplankton can help assessing the health of water body. For

instance, more of Cyanophycean members can indicate organic pollution of the

lake. Similarly, species like Spirulina, can be taken as indicator of sewage pollution.

From this point of view, enlisting of the species of phytoplankton is interesting.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The selected water bodies are located in drier region receiving about 600mm

rainfall annually. The present investigation reports on physico-chemical parameters

(such as EC, pH, alkalinity, hardness) and biodiversity of phytoplankton of four

water bodies in Miraj tahasil. The study is undertaken for entire Sangali district in

a tahasil wise manner. The selected sites are percolation tanks which are used by

villagers for all purposes including irrigation. The water is used to the lowest

level of the pond and then this condition becomes alarming.

The four selected lakes are: Bhose (N 17º02.288’;E 073º17.663’), Khanderajori

(N16º54.310’; E 74º47.668’), Salgare (N 16º52.870’; E 074º53.628’) and Lingnur

(N 16º49.397’; E 074º51.464’), from Miraj tahasil of Maharashtra State, from

where water samples were collected for analysis of physico-chemical parameters

and occurrence of phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton samples were collected with plankton net and preserved by using

0.5 mL of formalin (the strength is 40%) in 50 mL sample collected after filtration

of 50 litres of water. The water samples were brought to the laboratory for physico-

chemical analysis in separate plastic cans. The phytoplankton were studied under

the microscope and microphotographs were taken by using Nikon L– 20 camera.

The organisms were identified using books such as Prescott (1982); APHA (1985);

Fritsch (1965); Hutchinson (1957); Biswas (1980); Sarode and Kamat (1984) and

Edmondson (1963). The physico-chemical parameters were studied by using

APHA (1985).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Table 1 records the physico-chemical

parameters of four water bodies. The highest value of pH is recorded for site at

Salgare (8.4) and highest value for EC is recorded for site at Lingnur (50mg/L). The

highest value for total alkalinity is recorded for Lingnur (180.0 mg/L). The maximum

Received : 13.12.2009

Revised : 19.01.2010

Accepted : 26.02.2010

*Corresponding author

KEY WORDSPhytoplankton

Occurrence

Physicochemical

Parameters

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the diversity of

phytoplankton and physico-chemical

parameters of fresh water ecosystem of water

bodies in Miraj tahasil. The present work is

carried out in the month of May and September

2009. There are 48 species belonging to 26

genera of 5 classes namely, Cyanophyceae,

Chlorophyceae, Euglenophyceae,

Chrysophyceae and Bacillariophyceae. Out of

these four species viz. Dianobryon divergens,

D. sociale, Merismopedia elegans, and

Microcystis aeruginosa are common to all sites,

whereas 18 species are found at 2 or 3 sites

and remaining are found at only one site. The

diversity of phytoplankton is higher at Lingnur

(28) and lower at Khanderajori (08).

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LEELA J. BHOSALE et al.,

Wid. = Width of the species

Table 2: Diversity of phytoplankton in four water bodies of Miraj tahasil

Sr.No Sites/Species Wid. μm Bhose Khanderajori Salgare Lingnur

A Class – Cyanophyceae

1 Anabaenopsis circularis 06 “ “ + “

2 Burkillia cornuta 09 “ “ + +

3 Merismopedia elegans 02 + + + +

4 M. glauca 06 + “ + +

5 Microcystis aeruginosa 05 + + + +

6 M. incerta 04 + “ + +

7 Nostoc sphaericum 08 “ “ + “

8 Oscillatoria tenuis 12 “ “ + “

9 Scytonema hofmani 10 “ “ + “

B Class -- Chlorophyceae

10 Ankistrodesmus falcatus 06 + + “ “

11 Desmidium swartzi 10 + “ “ +

12 Hydrodictyon sp. 14 “ “ + “

13 Pediastrum simplex 4 celled 14 + “ + “

14 P. simplex 8 celled 18 + “ “ “

15 P. simplex var. duodenarium 60 “ “ + “

16 P. clathratum var. baileyanum 66 “ “ + “

17 Spondylosium rectangulare 20 “ “ + “

18 Scenedesmus quadricauda 4 celled 12 “ “ “ +

C Class - Euglenophyceae

19 Euglena acus 08 “ “ “ +

20 E. alloragei 18 “ “ “ +

21 E. gracile 30 “ “ “ +

22 E. proxima 22 + “ “ +

23 E. oxyuris 28 “ “ “ +

24 Lepocinclis acuta 20 + “ “ “

25 L. playfairiana 25 “ “ “ +

26 L. sphagnophila 12 + “ “ “

27 Phacus caudata 24 “ “ “ +

28 P. Longicauda 40 “ + “ +

29 P. Orbicularis 36 “ “ “ +

30 P. pleuronectus 45 “ “ “ +

31 Trachaelomonas volvocina 14 “ “ + “

D Class – Chrysophyceae “ “ “ “

32 Dianobryon divergens 19 + + + +

33 D. social 12 + + + +

E Class - Bacillariophyceae

34 Amphora ovalis 24 “ “ + +

35 Cyclotella meneghiniana 12 “ “ “ +

36 Cymbella lanceolata 11 + “ “ +

37 C. aspera 24 “ “ + “

38 Diploneis subovalis 18 + “ “ “

39 Gyrosigma acuminatum 20 “ “ “ +

40 Melosira granulata 07 + “ “ “

41 M. islandica 12 + “ “ +

42 Navicula papula 12 “ + + +

43 N. radiosa 09 “ “ + “

44 N. viridula 06 “ “ + “

45 Nitzschia archibaldii 04 + “ “ +

46 N. closterium 05 + “ “ “

47 Pinnularia viridis 12 + “ “ “

48 Synedra acus 06 + “ “ +

Total number 21 08 22 28

hardness is found at Bhose (260.0 mg/L). Table 2 records the

occurrence of phytoplankton in Miraj tahasil. The number of

species of phytoplankton is highest at Lingnur and lowest at

Khanderajori. In general, Sangali district shows lower number

species of phytoplankton. Low diversity is probably due to

drier climate in Sangali district.

Fig. 1 presents the various species of phytoplankton observed

under the light microscope. The photographs of lakes are

Table1: Physico-chemical parameters of water from four sites in

Miraj Tahasil

Sites pH EC Alkalinity mg/L Hardness

mS/cm PA TA CO3 HCO3 mg/L

Bhose 7.06 11.53 0.0 110 0.0 110.0 260.0

Khanderajori 7.95 20.0 2.5 147.0 5.0 142.5 114.0

Salgare 8.4 25.0 10.0 155.0 20.0 135.0 96.0

Lingnur 8.2 50.0 7.5 185.0 15.0 170.0 188.0

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A. circularis B. cornuta M.elegans M.glauca M. aeruginosa M.incerta N. sphaericum

O. tenuis S. hofmani A. falcatus D. swartzi Hydrodictyon sp. P. sipmlex 4 cell P. simplex

P.simplex var.

duodenariumE. allorageiE. acusS. quadricaudaS.rectangulareP. clathratum var.

baileyanum

P. longicaudaP. caudataL. acuta L. sphagnophileE. proxima L. playfairianaE.oxyurisE. gracile

P. pleuronectus D. divergensP. orbicularis C. aspera C. lanceolataD. social A. ovalisT. volocina C. meneghiniana D. subovalis

N. archibaldii P. viridisN. closterium S. acusM. islandicaM. granulata N. radiosaG. acuminatus N. papula N. viridula

Figure 1: Species of phytoplankton recorded for four lakes in Miraj tahasil

Figure 2a and b: A - Bhose lake; B - close up of Microcystis, a green thick layer on surface. The children and cattle are seen in A.

OCCURRENCE OF PHYTOPLANKTON

76

Figure 3: Sampling site ( ) at Salagare lake

Figure 4: Sampling site ( ) at Lingnur lake

presented in Figs. 2 to 4. It clearly shows the blooms of

Microcystis aeruginosa at Bhose which is dangerous situation.

LEELA J. BHOSALE et al.,

The intake of water with this species can cause poisoning.

The analysis of water body in the present work indicates that

one should make people aware of health hazards due to the

species like M. aeruginosa which is a common component of

all the four sites, though the blooms are found only at Bhose.

The site at Salgare shows maximum number of Cyanophycean

members which indicates that the water body may lead to

eutrophication.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This piece of work forms the part of the project entitled

“Ecological studies on wetland ecosystem of three districts of

Maharashtra”, sanctioned by U.G.C. The authors record their

sincere thanks to the Head, Deptt .of Botany, Shivaji University,

Kolhapur. Help rendered during field visits by Shri S. Inamdar

is acknowledged.

REFERENCES

APHA 1985. Standard methods for examination of water and waste

waters. American Public Health Association, 16 th Edition.

Washington: DC. p.1193.

Biswas, K. 1980. Common fresh and brackish water algal flora of

India and Burma Botanical Survey of India. Govt. of India. XV: 105,

pl.10.

Edmondson, W. T. 1963. Fresh – water biology. 2nd Edition, John

Wiley & Sons, Inc. p.1248.

Fritsch, F. E. 1965. The structure and reproduction of the algae, Vol–

I. Cambridge University Press. p.767

Hutchinson, G. E. 1957. A Treatise on Limnology – II: Introduction

to lake biology and Limnoplankton. John Wiley N.Y.

Prescott, G. W. 1982. Algae of the Western Great Lakes Areas. Otto

Koeltz Science Publishers. Germany, pp.662 – 962.

Sarode, P. T. and. Kamat, N. D. 1984. Freshwater Diatoms of

Maharashtra. Saikripa Prakashan, Aurangabad, p.338.

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