Research Article

A comparative Study of Diatom Flora of the Taleghan River in Iran with Other Studies Around the World

Ali Naseri^1,2* and Mostafa Noroozi³

¹Department of Environment, Alborz Province, Iran

²Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran

³Department of Biotechnology, University of Alzahra, Iran

Submission:April 27, 2021; Published:June 16, 2021

*Correspondence author: Ali Naseri, Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

How to cite this article:Ali Naseri, Noroozi M. A comparative Study of Diatom Flora of the Taleghan River in Iran with Other Studies Around the World. Oceanogr Fish Open Access J. 2021; 13(5): 555874.DOI: 10.19080/OFOAJ.2021.13.555874

Abstract

It is important to compare the flora of different parts of the world which have the various environmental condition. The flora of Taleghan dam and River was identified from November 2017 to October 2018 and the result is compared with 15 regions of recent studies in different continents. The flora of Africa with 66 percent common taxa was the highest similar to our study. Based on the comparison the Ulnaria ulna (Nitzsch) Compère, Navicula cryptotenella Lange Bertalot Gomphonema acuminatum Ehrenberg and Nitzschia palea (Kützing) W Smith was the cosmopolitan species and Achnanthes eutrophilum (Lange-Bertalot) Lange-Bertalot, Frustulia tugelae Cholnoky, Nitzschia acula (Kützing) Kützing in Rabenhors, and some other species were rare taxon. 45 out of 203 diagnosed species and genus Seminavis D.G., is new record for diatoms flora of Iran. Also, the species Cymbella pernodensis Maillard, Cymbella novazeelandiana Krammer and Achnanthidium druartii Rimet & Coutéwere new records for Asia.

Keywords: Diatom; Cosmopolitan; Flora; Sefid Rud; Iran

Introduction

The changeability of different organisms including the diatoms in various habitats shows the biodiversity comprising species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity. It is necessary to understand the biodiversity to utilize the natural resources for human applications. There is a mutual relation between biodiversity and environment as the alteration in the physicochemical variables, impacts on the diversity of organisms and frequently are responsible for fluctuations the species assemblages. The diatoms are widespread organisms that occurred in various environments like soil, marine, freshwater, and even in extreme conditions. Mann [1] estimated their species number between 30,000 and 200,000 as of the most species-rich in the algal group. They prefer special environmental conditions, such as many other organisms which besides their fast reproduction and their resistant siliceous cell wall (useful for the rebuilding of previous environments) make them a good candidate as bioindicator. Therefore, it is important to study the flora of diatom communities that are influenced by the environmental condition and land-water interactions [2].

It is feasible to evaluate the environment in the aquatic ecosystem with the help of species diversity. Also, the diversity of species is an effective factor in ecosystem functioning, food chain, integrity, and process. The environmental condition such as temperature, humidity, geology, physicochemical elements, substrates (stone, sands, plants, and etc.), anthropogenic factors, water velocity and light intensity influences on the diatom community and their species richness [3,4]. According to the phylogenetic tree the epiphytic and epilithic lifestyle is an ancestral character in which many planktonic diatom species have been evolved from their lineage [5]. The major evolution (lifestyle, morphology, and ecology) of different diatom classes have occurred in the benthic lifestyle. The majority of diatom species live in benthic communities due to their heavy silicified frustule.

Comparing the present flora with the previous studies can reflect climate change and anthropogenic influences on the earth. Iran with 1.6 million km² has a diverse climate and the Zagros Mountains from South part to North and Alborz Mountain from East to West [6]. Outstanding studies on the flora of algae in Iran were performed by [7,8]. Compére [9] has mentioned that Rabenhorst [10] has published the list of freshwater diatoms from South Persia. Leonard has collected some samples from Dašt-e Kavir, Dašt-e Lut and Jazmuriyãn in 1972 and Compére [9] has identified 300 algae species and varieties which 99% of them belonged to Bacillariophyceae [9]. New records of species including Nitzschia curvata Compére, Nitzschia iranica Compére and Navicula egregia Hust. fa. elongata Compére was introduced.

During the five kilometers long sampling area of Taleghan River, 203 Taxa were identified which reflects the rich diatom flora of Iran. Compared to other floristic studies in Iran and other areas (in the same conditions such as: the time of study, sampling substrates, stations number, and etc.), the Taleghan area has the highest diatom diversity. The purpose of the present study was to compare the diatom flora of Taleghan River and Taleghan Dam with 15 other floristic studies in the world.

Material and Methods

Taleghan River is one of the main tributaries of Sefid Rud, the second-longest river in Iran with approximately 670 km length. It rises in the Alborz Mountain in the northwest of Iran and flows into the Caspian Sea. Taleghan River begins in the Kahar and Kandovan mountains located in the western part of the Alborz domain. It is one of the longest rivers in the center of Iran with 180 km length; they form the Shah Roud River after joining to Alamut River. This study was carried out at eight sites on the Taleghan River and Taleghan Dam from November 2017 to October 2018 (Table 1,Figure 1). The number of sediments were160 ml, collected from each station in three replicates. The sediment samples were fixed with a 4% formaldehyde solution in the sampling field and then transferred to the laboratory. Ten ml of suspension was prepared from the samples based on the protocol Van der Werff[11].

The samples were treated with 25 ml of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) (1.5 h at 100 °C) and then 10 ml hydrochloric acid (HCl) (2 h at 120 °C) to remove organic matters. The oxidized by-products were removed by recurrent and settling with distilled water. To neutralize electrostatic charges on the suspended particles, one drop of 10% NH₄CL was added for every 10 mL of suspension [12]. Coverslips were prepared with diatom suspension and installed on slides in Naphrax glue. The Olympus microscope (Model CX31) via 100x oil immersion was used to investigate the diatom cells. Finally, the Canon camera (Model EOS 5D Mark III) was used to capture the images. The slides were examined to evaluate the abundance of species based on 300 valves counts for each site. Each month, three permanent slides were prepared for eight stations (Table 1, Figure 1).

Physicochemical Analysis

To analyze physicochemical parameters, 120 ml of water from each station were collected. The parameters (cations, anions, SiO₂, salinity, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity (nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU), PO₄^2-, NO₃^2-, and Mg²⁺) were examined in the laboratory of the Mabna company (Karaj) according to American Public Health Association [13], and the electrical conductivity (EC), temperature (T), dissolved oxygen (DO) and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) were measured in situ at station sites [14]. COD was measured by the optical method device, and with Hach Dr 5000. The local temperature, pH and DO, were measured via the Hach HQ30 analyzer, Nitrate, and phosphate parameters via the Hach Dr 2800 spectrophotometer, and the turbidity was measured by Wagtech turbidity detector.

Results and Discussion

Table 3 shows the physicochemical parameters of the water of stations.In the Taleghan stations, 203 taxa were identified which belong to 25 families and 49 genera (Table 2). The percentage of each class of diatoms is as below: Bacillariophyceae with 88%, Cosinodiscophyceae with 8%, and Mediophyceae with 4%. The percentage of the diatoms family included Bacillariaceae 21% (6 genera, 42 species), Navicullaceae 17% (4 genera, 34 species), Gomphonemataceae 11% (4 genera, 24 species), Cymbellaceae 10% (4 genera, 21 species), Achnanthidiaceae 5% (2 genera, 10 species), each of Catenulaceae, Fragillariaceae,Tabellariaceae, and Surirellaceae had 1, 2,4 genera and 8 to 9 species (each of them 4%) respectively, and each of the nineteen other families less than 3% species accounted for them (Figure 2). Nitzschia 17% (32 spp.) was the most represented genus, being Navicula, with 26 species (14%) in the second.

Table 2: Lists and comparison of the taxa of the Taleghan Dam and River in comparison with 15 regions.

Taxa Taleghan River (Iran)

B. A. I

K. R. I

A. F. I.

A. F. I r

S. R

L. N. I

S. D. F

V. E

C. R. C

T. M. S. M

E. C. R

N. U. S

S. B

P. B

S. A

Bacillariophyceae

Achnanthidiaceae

Achnanthidium affine (Grunow) Czarnecki

p

p

p

Achnanthidium crassum (Hustedt) Potapova & Ponader *

p

p

A. druartii Rimet & Couté**

p

A. eutrophilum (Lange-Bertalot) Lange-Bertalot*

p

p

p

A. macrocephalum (Hustedt) Round& Bukhtiyarova*

p

A. minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki

P

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

A. saprophilum (H.Kobayashi & Mayama) Round & Bukhtiyarova*

p

p

p

p

Achnanthidium standeri (Cholnoky) J.C.Taylor, E.Morales & L.Ector

P

Achnanthidium sp.

Planothidium frequentissimum (Lange-Bertalot) Lange- Bertalot

P

P

P

P

P

P

P. rhombiculum Lange-Bertalot*

p

Asterionellopsidaceae

Psammothidium pseudoswazii (J.R.Carter) L.Bukhtiyarova & Round*

P

Amphipleuraceae

Frustulia tugelae Cholnoky*

p

F. vulgaris (Thwaites) De Toni

P

p

p

p

p

p

p

Bacillariaceae

Bacillaria paxillifera (O.F.Müller) T.Marsson

p

p

p

p

p

Denticula kuetzingii Grunow

p

p

p

p

D. subtilis Grunow

p

p

p

p

Denticula sundayensis Archibald*

p

Hantzschia amphioxys (Ehrenberg) Grunow

P

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

Hantzschia sp.

Mayamaea permitis (Hustedt) Bruner & Medlin

p

p

p

Nitzschia.acicularis (Kützing) W. Smith

p

p

p

P

p

p

p

Nitzschia acula (Kützing) Kützing in Rabenhorst*

p

N. amphibia Grunow.

P

p

p

p

P

P

p

p

N. capitellata Hustedt in Pascher

p

p

p

p

N. clausii Hantzsch

p

p

p

P

p

p

N. communis Rabenhorst

p

p

p

p

N. dissipata (Kützing) Rabenhorst

P

p

p

p

p

P

P

p

p

p

N. dissipata var. media (Kützing) Grunow

p

p

p

N. draveillensis Coste & Ricard *

p

p

p

N. filiformis (W. Smith) Van Heurck

p

p

p

p

p

p

N. frustulum (Kützing) Grunow

p

P

p

p

p

p

N. gracilis Hantzsch,

p

p

p

p

p

p

N. heufleriana Grunow

p

P

p

p

p

p

N. iremissa Cholnoky*

p

N. linearis (Agardh) W. Smith

p

p

P

p

P

P

p

p

p

N. littorea Grunow*

p

p

N. microcephala Grunow

p

P

p

p

N. media Hantzsch

P

P

P

Nitzschia oligotraphenta (Lange-Bertalot) Lange-Bertalot*

N. palea (Kützing) W. Smith

p

P

p

p

p

p

P

P

p

p

p

N. pura Hustedt*

p

p

p

N. pusilla Grunow

p

P

p

p

p

p

N Nitzschia recta Hantzsch ex Rabenhorst

p

p

p

p

P

p

p

N. sigma (Kützing) W. Smith

p

p

p

p

p

N. sigmoidea (Nitzsch) W. Smith

p

p

p

p

N. sublinearis Hustedt

p

p

N. subtilis Grunow

p

N. tenuis W. Smith*

N. tsarenkoi Lange-Bertalot*

p

N. umbonata (Ehrenberg) Lange-Bertalot

p

p

p

P

p

p

N. vermicularis (Kützing) Hantzsch

P

P

p

p

p

Tryblionella apiculata W. Gregory

p

p

p

p

T. angustata W. Smith

P

P

P

P

P

T. calida (Grunow) D.G. Mann

p

p

p

p

T. hungarica (Grunow) Frenguelli

p

p

p

p

Catenulaceae

Amphora copulata (Kützing) Schoeman & R.E.M. Archibald

p

p

p

p

A.   inariensis Krammer*

p

A.   minutissima W. Smith

A.   ovalis (Kützing) Kützing

p

p

P

p

p

p

p

p

A.   pediculus (Kützing) Grunow

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

A.   veneta (Kützing) Levkov

p

p

p

p

P

p

p

p

Amphora sp1

Amphora sp2

Cocconeidaceae

Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta (Ehrenberg) Grunow

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

C. pediculus Ehrenberg

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

C. placentula Ehrenberg

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

C. lineata Ehrenberg

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

Cymbellales incertae sedis (Family)

Gomphonella olivacea (Hornemann) Rabenhorst.

P

P

P

Cymbellaceae

Cymbella affiniformis Krammer

p

p

C.cf. excisa Kützinge

p

p

p

p

C.cf. neocistula Krammer

P

p

p

C.cistula (Ehrenberg) O. Kirchner

P

p

p

p

p

p

C.compacta Østrup

p

C. diversistigmata Krammer*

C. excisiformis Krammer

p

C.langebertalotii Krammer

P

p

C.novazeelandiana Krammer**

C.pernodensis Maillard **

C.stigmaphora Østrup*

p

C.subleptoceros Krammer*

p

C. turgidula Grun.

p

p

Cymbopleura amphicephala (Nägeli ex Kützing) Krammer

p

p

p

p

p

C. frequens Schmidt*

p

C. langeBertalotii Krammer *

C.maggieae Bahls**

Cymbopleura naviculiformis (Auerswald ex Heiberg) Krammer,

Cymbopleura sp.

Didymosphenia geminata (Lyngbye) Mart.Schmidt

p

p

p

p

Navicymbula pusilla (Grunow) Krammer*

p

Diadesmidaceae

Luticola cf. ventricosa (Kützing) D.G. Mann

Diploneidaceae

Diploneis elliptica (Kützing) Cleve*

p

p

p

p

p

p

D. oblongella (Nag.) Cl.Euler

p

p

p

p

p

D. smithii (Brebisson) Cleve

p

p

p

Diploneis sp.

Eunotiaceae

Eunotia minor (Kützing.) Grunow

p

p

p

p

P

p

Fragilariaceae

Fragilaria capucina Desmazières Meso

p

p

p

p

p

p

p

P

p

F. capucina var. rumpens (Kutz.) Lange-Bertalot

p

p

p