Enrique A. Cantoral-Uriza

Morphological study of Cyclotella choctawhatcheeana Prasad (Stephanodiscaceae) from a saline Mexican lake

BackgroundCyclotella choctawhatcheeana Prasad 1990 is a small centric diatom found in the plankton of water bodies with a wide range of salt concentrations. This paper describes the morphological features of the valve of C. choctawhatcheeana, from Alchichica lake, a hyposaline lake located in Central Mexico, and provides information about their ecology with respect to water chemistry and distribution in the water column along the annual cycle. Alchichica, and their neighbor lake Atexcac, are the only Mexican water bodies where C. choctawhatcheeana has been registered.ResultsMorphological differences were found with respect to the original description. The valves of C. choctawhatcheeana from Alchichica exceeded the diameter (5–12 μm) given for the type material (3.0–9.5 μm), and it does not forms or seldom forms short chains (2–3 cells) in contrast of up to 20 cell chains. Other difference was the presence of irregularly distributed small silica granules around the margin of the external view of the valve, meanwhile in Prasads diagnosis a ring of siliceous granules is present near the valve margin; all other features were within the range of variation of the species. Maximum densities (up to 3877 cells ml-1) of C. choctawhatcheeana were found in Alchichica lake from June to October, along the stratificated period of the lake. Low densities (48 cells ml-1) when the water column was mixed, in January and February. C. choctawhatcheeana of Lake Alchichica was found in an ample depth range from 20 m down to 50 m. Conductivity (K25) ranged between 13.3 and 14.5 mS cm-1 and the pH between 8.8 and 10.0. Water temperature fluctuated between 14.5 and 20°C. Dissolved oxygen ranged from anoxic (non detectable) up to saturation (7 mg l-1).ConclusionThe morphology of C. choctawhatcheeana from Alchichica corresponded to the original description, with exception of some secondary traits. C. choctawhatcheeana can grow in several different environmental conditions. It can use nutrients along the water column during the mixing period in the lake. But when nutrients are scarce, C. choctawhatcheeana, can be located in very high densities, into a well defined depth layer of the lake, being an important contributor to the depth chlorophyll maximum (DCM). The species seems to be a small size but significant component of the phytoplankton in the saline Mexican lake Alchichica.

ESTUDIO DEL VALOR INDICADOR DE LAS COMUNIDADES DE ALGAS BENTÓNICAS: UNA PROPUESTA DE EVALUACIÓN Y APLICACIÓN EN EL RÍO MAGDALENA, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO

The application and development of environmental laws governing watershed management requires identification of biological indicators, parameters and measures to establish its ecological status, for which the present study aims to characterize the ecological indicator value of stream benthic algae in an urban area of Mexico City. Six sites of the Magdalena river were studied in the most contrasting seasons: dry-warm, rainy and dry-cold. At each site the physicochemical parameters of water were recorded and 10 samples were collected: Five with visible algal growths and five with diatoms. The environmental quality of each site was determined by the trophic status and its confirmation with the richness and benthic algal diversity, through a canonical correspondence analysis and the calculation of the indicator value of species (IndVal). According to the trophic status, three groups of sites were recognized. The first group (G1) was assessed as reference of the oligotrophic conditions and presented 11 species with the highest IndVal, protruding: Encyonema silesiacum, Gomphonema parvulum, Navicula cryptocephala, Planothidium lanceolatum, Vaucheria bursata, Placoma regulare and Nostoc parmelioides. A second group (G2) was associated with 15 species considered detectors, which were tolerant to increased nutrients in at least one season, such as Diatoma mesodon and Prasiola mexicana. The third group (G3) included sites with species that had a wide range of tolerance to pollution: Fistulifera saprophila , Nitzschia minuta , Nitzschia palea , Nitzschia recta and Phormidium autumnale. The species IndVal of Magdalena River has established reference sites of good environmental quality and those that are altered by human activities, therefore they are recommended as the first step in a methodological proposal for a long-term biomonitoring through a biological index.