'End to end' planktonic trophic web and its implications for the mussel farms in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Italy).

The Mar Piccolo is a semi-enclosed basin subject to different natural and anthropogenic stressors. In order to better understand plankton dynamics and preferential carbon pathways within the planktonic trophic web, an integrated approach was adopted for the first time by examining all trophic levels (virioplankton, the heterotrophic and phototrophic fractions of pico-, nano- and microplankton, as well as mesozooplankton). Plankton abundance and biomass were investigated during four surveys in the period 2013-2014.

Growth, delayed fluorescence and pigment composition of four Prorocentrum minimum strains growing at two salinities.

Prorocentrum minimum is a potentially harmful and widely distributed marine dinoflagellate. Several P. minimum strains have already been studied, showing phylogenetical relations of strains isolated from the same geographical regions.

Delayed fluorescence as a measure of nutrient limitation in Dunaliella tertiolecta.

The applicability of the delayed fluorescence (DF) for the purpose of distinguishing the cells growing in different nutrient conditions was researched on the marine unicellular algae Dunaliella tertiolecta Butcher (Chlorophyta). The DF intensity (DFI), as a measure of living algal biomass, was compared with other biomass measures--the cell concentration, chlorophyll a and fluorescence. The photosynthetic activity index (PhAI), a non-dimensional physiological index of photosynthesis calculated from a combination of DFI and F(0) was introduced.

First record of Ostreopsis cfr. ovata on macroalgae in the Northern Adriatic Sea.

Ostreopsis ovata is an epiphytic potentially toxic dinoflagellate. It has a world-wide distribution, normally associated with other epiphytic or benthic dinoflagellates. In tropical seas O.