Study on mangrove associated estuarine waters of Northeastern Bay of Bengal reveals potential diatom indicators of dissolved inorganic compounds

Abhishek Mukherjee, Subhajit Das, Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Tarun Kumar De

Abstract
An extensive study (2011 and 2012) was performed to narrow down certain diatom species with bioindicator potentials of highly dynamic and well mixed tropical estuary. The Hooghly Estuary in the Northeastern coast of Bay of Bengal was chosen as the study sites. The comparison between mangrove impoverished and mangrove dominated estuarine rivers revealed intriguing variation in the phytoplankton species composition in response to the dissolved nitrate, phosphate and silicate concentrations, thus forming the kernel of the study by focusing on certain species with greater abundances pointing to their better adaptability and responsiveness to biotic/abiotic parameters in a well mixed estuary. Coscinodiscus hyalinus, Coscinodiscus radiatus, Lioloma elongata, Skeletonema costatum, Synedra crystallinum, Thalassionema frauenfeldtii and Thalassionema nitzschioides have expressed better as bioindicators.

Keywords
Bioindicator, Coscinodiscus, Skeletonema, Synedra, Thalassionema, Hooghly Estuary.

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