Occurrence of Ceratium furcoides (Levander) Langhans 1925 bloom at the Billings Reservoir, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

An unusual bloom of Ceratium furcoides is reported for a station of the Taquacetuba compartment of the Billings Reservoir. The appearance of this bloom is attributed to the mixing and turbulence of the water column that removed Ceratium cysts from the surface of the sediment and promoted conditions for the growth of this species in the region of mixing. Cold fronts approaching the Billings Reservoir are probably the cause of the mixing and bloom. Also turbulence induced by wind increased phosphorus concentration in the water column. Ceratium furcoides was the dominant species at station 1 where the nutrient concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus were high. Ceratium spp. blooms may be a problem for water treatment and massive mortality can affect the dissolved oxygen of the water producing fish kill.Keywords: Ceratium furcoides, blooms, turbulence, cysts, cold fronts. Ocorrência de floração de Ceratium furcoides ( Levander) Langhans 1925, na represa Billings, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil ResumoNeste trabalho, apresenta-se e discute-se a formação de florescimento de Ceratium furcoides no compartimento Taquacetuba da Represa Billings. Este florescimento é provavelmente resultado de intensa mistura vertical de coluna de água na região de transição entre este compartimento e o corpo central da represa. Esta mistura vertical é resultado do efeito de frentes frias sobre o sistema, promovendo interfaces que favorecem o aumento acentuado de fósforo na região do florescimento e o rápido crescimento de Ceratium furcoides. A turbulência gerada pode ter removido cistos da superfície do sedimento, promovendo o rápido crescimento desta espécie. O florescimento de espécies de Ceratium spp. pode ser problemático para o tratamento de água, pois pode causar depleção de oxigênio dissolvido após a decomposição, comprometendo a qualidade da água e aumentando os custos do tratamento.

First record of expansive Ceratium Schrank, 1793 species (Dinophyceae) in Southern Brazil, with notes on their dispersive patterns in Brazilian environments

“…Ceratium furcoides is the main recorded species, always accompanied by illustrations that allow corroborating the identification (Santos-Wisniewski et al 2007;Matsumura-Tundisi et al 2010;Oliveira et al 2011). Conversely, C. hirundinella has few unconfirmed records.…”

First record of a bloom of the invasive species Ceratium furcoides (Levander) Langhans 1925 in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

“…It is also clear that the concentration decreases with increasing distance to the barrage, shifting between 2036 cell·mL -1 at Ss1, 1500 cell·mL -1 at Ss2 and 272 cell·mL -1 at Ss3. Such densities may be considered high when compared to those found at Furnas reservoir: 285 cell·mL -1 (Santos-Wisniewski et al, 2007) but relatively low when compared to the Billings reservoir: 21.000 cell·mL -1 (Matsumura-Tundisi et al, 2010). Exceptionally at sampling station Ss4, where the lowest surface density (74 cell·mL -1 ) was found, the lower limit of the euphotic zone was 4.95 m. This lower density allowed light availability to a greater depth, where the vertical distribution of the species differed from the other sampling stations, with a higher density in the lower limit of the euphotic zone (205 cell·ml -1 ).…”

Invasion of the dinoflagellate Ceratium furcoides (Levander) Langhans 1925 at tropical reservoir and its relation to environmental variables

“…After this, a bloom of Ceratium furcoides was reported in the eutrophic Billings Reservoir, São Paulo city, by Matsumura-Tundisi et al (2010) and the authors suggested that this occurrence was related to the intense process of mixing which might have caused a sharp increase in the phosphorus content in the water column and hence favoring the rapid blooming of this algae.…”