A Checklist of Planktonic Algae off Lagos Coast - Jsrd.org

Journal Sci. Res. Dev., 2003, Vol. 9, 75 -82
A Checklist of Planktonic Algae off Lagos Coast
D. I. Nwankwo. and I.C. Onyema
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Lagos,
Akoka ‐ Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The planktonic algae off the Lagos coast was investigated for 2 years between November, 1980 and
October, 1982. Sixty‐three species belonging to twenty‐nine genera were recorded. Diatoms
constituted the most abundant group making up fifty‐three species (84.13%) from twenty‐three
genera. The dinoflagellates recorded six species (9.52%) from a single genus and the
cyanobacteria, four species (6.35%) from three genera. Higher phytoplankton diversity and cell counts
were recorded in the dry season (November ‐ April) than in the wet season (May ‐October).
Coscinodiscus, Chaetocerus and Biddulphia (diatoms) and Ceratium (dinoflagellate) were more
frequently occurring species. Most of the species encountered in this study have been documented for
the Lagos lagoon.
Keywords: Checklist, plankton, algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates
INTRODUCTION
According to Nwankwo et al., (2003 a) in the last SOyears or so, there has been an increasing interest in
phytoplankton studies in Nigeria. Checklists of planktonic algae in some parts of Nigeria have been
documented by different workers over this period. For instance, Mills (1932) reported on the diatoms of the
Warri River while Fox (1957) documented a first list of the Marine algae from Nigeria and Hendey (1958)
worked on the marine algae from different parts of West Africa with Lagos and Port ‐Harcourt as key
study points. Holden and Green (1960) also investigated the hydrology and the plankton of the Sokoto
River, while Imevbore (1965) presented a checklist of the phytoplankton species for the Eleiyele reservoir in
Ibadan and a similar list was documented for the Oshun River by Egborge (1973).
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76 D. I. Nwankwo. and I. C. Onyema
More recently Nwadiaro and Ezefili (1986) listed the phytoplankton of New Calabar River while Opute
(1991) presented a checklist of the phytoplankton flora of the Warri / Forcados estuary. Nwankwo
(1988a) has also presented a checklist of the Nigerian marine macroalgae from Tarkwa bay West mole
whereas Nwankwo (1988b) complied a list of the planktonic algae of the Lagos Lagoon.
Additionally, a checklist of algae in the plankton from the Bonny River have received attention by Chindah
and Pudo (1991) and Kadiri (1999) also presented a list and distribution of phytoplankton in some coastal
waters of Nigeria with Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states as key sampling points for the
survey. Further to this, Nwankwo et al., (2003a) also published an additional list to the already
existing checklist for the Lagos Lagoon (Nwankwo, 1988b) after ISyears of additional phycological
investigations in the region.
Presently there is no published work on a checklist of phytoplankton species found in the sea off the
Lagos coast. The knowledge of these species and their role as foundational aquatic food chain organism
in the marine ecosystem particularly in the neritic waters off Lagos cannot be understated. The
aim of this project was to investigate the phytoplankton assemblage of the Lagos coast and hence
document a checklist of encountered species.
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA
The coastline of Nigeria boarders 853km of the Atlantic Ocean and is interrupted by a series of
estuarine entries to the sea. The coastal area of South‐western Nigeria, more specifically, is a
meandering network of lagoons that angle approximately 45° to the prevailing south‐westerlies wind
and parallel to the coastline (Hill and Webb, 1958; Webb, 1958; Ibe, 1988; Nwankwo, 2004b) (Figure
1). Rainfall in this area though concentrated in one season is bimodal with peaks in June and
September/October. This area is influenced by the semi‐diurnal tidal regime experienced along
the entire West African coastal region (Webb, 1958; FAO, 1969; Olaniyan, 1969).
The dominant ocean currents operating within the area include the Benguella, Guinea, Equatorial, and
the Equatorial counter currents. High energy waves are generated within this region that
continually pound the Lagos shoreline at an angle.

A Checklist ofPlanktonic Algae off Lagos Coast
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Phytoplankton sample collection
Phytoplankton samples for the two years of study were collected with the aid of a 55/j.m standard
plankton net and the training vessel, 'Federal Argonaut'. The vessel is about 200m long and has an
engine capacity of 425 hp and collections were made between latitudes 3°27'E and 3° 29'S and longitudes
6° 17' Nand 16° 24^N for the study. On each occasion the net was tied to the vessel and towed at low
speed (< 4knots) for Smins. All samples were collected in 250ml plastic containers with screw caps and
preserved in 4% unbuffered formalin prior to biological analysis.
Figure 1: Hydrological map of Lagos showing study area
Phytoplankton analysis
In the laboratory one drop, five different times for each sample after concentration to lOmls were
investigated at different magnification (X15, X100 and X400) using a Zeiss binocular microscope with a
calibrated eye piece. The microtransect drop count method described by Lackey (1938) and employed by
Nwankwo (1984) was used. Since each drop is O.lml, results on abundance were multiplied by 10 to
give the values as numbers of organisms per ml. Appropriate texts were used to aid identification
(Subramanyan, 1946; Smith, 1950; Hendey, 1958,1964; Desikachary, 1959; Foged, 1966; Wimpenny,
1966; Patrick and Reimer, 1966, 1975; Nwankwo, 1990, 2004a). To
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78 D. I. Nwankwo. andl.C. Onyema
enhance diatom identification, sub‐samples of the original samples were acid cleaned using a
mixture of H2SO4 and HNO3 acids.
RESULTS
For the two year survey a total of sixty‐six species of phytoplankton were recorded. The diatoms were
the most prominent group with a total of fifty‐three species (84.15%) from twenty‐three genera.
Frequently occurring genera include Coscinodiscus (12 taxa), Chaetocerus (8 taxa), Biddulphia (6
taxa) and Grammatophora (3 taxa). The dinoflagellate were the second more prominent group
with a total of six species (9.52%) from a sole genus (Ceratium). The cyanobactena recorded four
species (6.35%) from three genera. Oscillatoria, Phormidium and Trichodesmium were the genera
encountered.
Table 1: A Checklist ofplanktonic algae off the coast of Lagos.
Bacillariophyceae
Actinophycus splendens (Schadbolt) Ralfs
Asterionella gracialis Cleve & Muller Bacillaria
paxillifer (O. F. Muller) Hendey Biddulphia
aurita (Lyngbe) Brebission Biddulphia
longricruris Greville Biddulphia mobilense
(Bailey) Grunow Biddulphia regia Schultze
Biddulphia rhombus (Ehrenberg) Wm Smith
Biddulphia sinensis Greville Cerataulina
bergoni (Cleve) Hendey Chaetoceros
atlanticum Cleve Chaetoceros coarctatum
Lauder Chaetoceros decipens Cleve
Chaetoceros densum Cleve Chaetoceros
didymus Ehrenberg Chaetoceros diversum
Cleve Chaetoceros laciniosum Shurt
Chaetoceros peruvianum Brightwelli
Corethron criphilum Castracane Coscinodiscus
asteromphalus Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus
centralis Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus eccentricus
Ehrenberg

A Checklist of Planktonic Algae off Lagos Coast
Coscinodiscus gigas Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus
granni Gough Coscinodiscus janischii A. Schmidt
Coscinodiscus jonesianus (Greville) Ostenfeld
Coscinodiscus lineatus Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus
marginatus Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus oculus‐
iridis Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus radiatus
Ehrenberg Coscinodiscus stellaris Ehrenberg
Detonula schroderi P. Bergon Ditylum
brightwelli (West) Grunow Donkinia sp
Eucampia cornuta Ehrenberg Grammatophora
marina (Lyngbye) Kutzing Grammatophora
sourieri Amosse Grammatophora sp
Gyrosigma wansbeckii (Donkin) Cleve
Hyalodiscus stelliger Bailey Hyalodiscus sp
Hemidiscus harmannianus (Greville) Mann
Thallassionema longissima (Grunow)
Cyanophyceae
Oscillatoria margatifera (Kutzing) Gomont
Oscillatoria nigro‐viridis Thwaites Phormidium
fragile (Meneghini) Gomont Trichodesmium
thiebautii Gomont
Dinophyceae
Ceratium furca Ehrenberg Ceratium
fusus Ehrenberg Ceratium
macroceros Ehrenberg Ceratium
massilense Ehrenberg Ceratium
pulchellum Kofoid Ceratium tripos
(O.F.M.) Nitzsch
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80 D. I. Nwankwo. andl.C. Onyema
DISCUSSION
From the study there were comparatively fewer numbers of species for this study viz a viz other
seasonal microalgal investigations in the coastal waters of Nigeria (Nwankwo, 1988b; Nwankwo et al.,
2003, Onyema et al., 2003). Comparatively, higher abundance and diversity of planktonic algal species
was recorded for the dry season (November ‐ April) than in the wet season (May ‐October). For
instance species ofCoscinodiscus, Chaetocerus, Biddulphia, Ditylum and Ceratium occurred more
frequently in the dry season. A good number of the species encountered for this study have been
recorded in marine situations elsewhere (Subramanyan, 1946, Newell and Newell, 1966; Wimmpenny,
1966).
Furthermore, the occurrence of dinoflagellates species such as Ceratium furca, Ceratium fusus,
Ceratium tripos and diatoms such as Chaetoceros convolutus, Cerataulina bergonii and
Coscinodiscus centralis among other diatoms have also been reported to impose anoxia, clogging and
damage of fish gills under bloom conditions in the same region (Nwankwo et al., 2003 a,b).
The occurrence of the cyanobacteria Trichodesmium thiebautii was observed only in warm,
stratified, relatively nutrient poor waters in the dry season. Nwankwo et al., (2003b) have reported that
Trichodesmium thiebautii blooms in the coastal waters of south‐western Nigeria and clogging of fishing
nets in bloom conditions have also been reported in the same region for this cyanobacterium
Species of Oscillatoria and Phormidium encountered during the study are likely immigrant forms from
land brought in with floodwaters during the rains.
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