Seasonal Variation of Phytoplankton Cherthala-Aroor-Edakochi Coastal Belt of Kerala, India

Abstract

A seasonal variation of plankton and its relation to the physico-chemical parameters in Cherthala-Aroor-Edakochi coastal belt of Kerala, where maximum numbers of seafood processing industries are located is studied. The phytoplankton samples were collected from ten pre-selected sites. Nine of the selected sites were closely associated with the discharge mouth of seafood processing plants and one kept as the reference site which is free from the seafood plant discharge. From all the study sites, a total of 38,472 phytoplankton individuals belonging to 11 classes were identified on the basis of standard keys. The major classes obtained were Bacillariophyceae (21,812 individuals), Chlorophyceae (7111 individuals), Cyanophyceae (6118). The correlation analysis showed that physico-chemical parameters like DO, BOD, COD, transparency and pH significantly influenced the distribution of phytoplankton.