CSIR Central

Massive outbreaks of Noctiluca scintillans blooms in the Arabian Sea due to spread of hypoxia.

IR@NIO: CSIR-National Institute Of Oceanography, Goa


Field	Value

Creator	Gomes, H.R. Goes, J.I. Matondkar, S.G.P. Buskey, E.J. Basu, S. Parab, S.G. Thoppil, P.G.

Date	2014-10-09T12:40:52Z 2014-10-09T12:40:52Z 2014

Identifier	Nature Communications, vol.5; 2014; No.4862 doi:10.1038/ncomms5862. http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4624

Description	In the last decade, the northern Arabian Sea has witnessed a radical shift in the composition of winter phytoplankton blooms, which previously comprised mainly of diatoms, the unicellular, siliceous photosynthetic organisms favoured by nutrient-enriched waters from convective mixing. These trophically important diatom blooms have been replaced by widespread blooms of a large, green dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, which combines carbon fixation from its chlorophyll-containing endosymbiont with ingestion of prey. Here, we report that these massive outbreaks of N. scintillans during winter are being facilitated by an unprecedented influx of oxygen deficient waters into the euphotic zone and by the extraordinary ability of its endosymbiont Pedinomonas noctilucae to fix carbon more efficiently than other phytoplankton under hypoxic conditions. We contend that N. scintillans blooms could disrupt the traditional diatom-sustained food chain to the detriment of regional fisheries and long-term health of an ecosystem supporting a coastal population of nearly 120 million people.

Language	en

Publisher	Macmillan

Rights	© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved. All efforts have been made to respect the copyright to the best of our knowledge. Inadvertent omissions, if brought to our notice, stand for correction and withdrawal of document from this repository.

Subject	phytoplankton blooms ecosystem

Title	Massive outbreaks of Noctiluca scintillans blooms in the Arabian Sea due to spread of hypoxia.

Type	Journal Article