Occurrence of thraustochytrids: The fungoid protists vis-a-vis marine macroalgae (seaweeds) along the coast of Goa, India

Abstract

Thraustochytrids are fungoid protists ubiquitous in the marine environment and found to be associated with decaying macroalgae. Not much is known about their association with living macroalgae. Hence in the present study, different macroalgal samples were collected from various beaches of Goa to examine the presence of thraustochytrids during a four-year-long study. Brown, red and green algae were found to be substrata of thraustochytrids. Thraustochytrids were isolated on pine pollen baiting from 17 to 58 percent of the specimens. Thraustochytrids isolated from various macroalgae belonged to the genera Oblongichytrium, Schizochytrium, Ulkenia, and Thraustochytrium. Labyrinthula sp. was also found once on the green alga Bryopsis hypnoides. These were generally found during dry seasons rather than in monsoons. The seasonal occurrence of thraustochytrids was found to be associated with temporal variation in macroalgal diversity. The statistical analysis supported individual or interactive effects of both factors viz, seasons and macroalgal diversity, on the occurrence of thraustochytrids. Thraustochytrids were also isolated from seawater adjoining macroalgae and from estuarine water at all times of the year. Oblongichytrium sp. was isolated from the green alga Ulva compressa and Anjuna seawater samples at the same time, thus indicating that thraustochytrids from seawater could inhabit the macroalgae.