Checklist of the Marine Macroalgae of Algerian West Coast (Ain Témouchent site)

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Introduction

The macroalgae are essential elements in the food chain of marine and coastal ecosystems. Generally, the aquatic macroalgae are not well-known on the west coast of Algeria (Traiche etnd al., 2018). Most of the inventories conducted in the benthic flora of the continental shelf of the west coast of Algeria have not been updated (Bentallah and Kerfouf, 2013; Borsali et al., 2020). The absence of synthesis work led us to consider the census and update the checklist of marine macroalgae presented in Ain Temouchent littoral on the west coast of Algeria (Ballesteros et al., 2007).

Materials and Methods

Three stations (Bouzedjar, Terga, and Beni Saf) are chosen according to the state of the coastal ecosystem, whether or not it is subject to anthropogenic pressure due to urban, industrial, and port activities (Fig. 1).

Figure 1: The geographical location of the studied area.

These coastal zones concentrate numerous resources, and they are exposed to the pollutions and other deteriorations resulting from the development of multiple socio-economic activities: urbanization, desalination unit, touristic complex (Remili & Kerfouf, 2013, Kies & Kerfouf, 2014). Marine hydrology of this study area is characterized by turbulent circulation along the coast, which supports the dispersion of possible sources of pollution and enriched the entire chain food surface (Millot, 1989; Ghodbani & Bougherira, 2019; Kies et al., 2020). The marine algae were isolated, and each of its individuals was identified according to several determination keys, such as Boudouresque & Seridi (1989), Birje et al. (1996), Cabioc'h et al. (2006), Fischer et al. (2007), Ramdani et al. (2015), and AlgaeBase (Global Algal Database of Taxonomic, Nomenclatural and Distributional Information).

Results and Discussion

The sampling campaign made it possible to inventory macroalgae of Ain Témouchent littoral (western Algerian coast). Thirty-two species were harvested. They are divided into three taxa: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta:

1. Chlorophyta (4 order / 5 famileis / 7 genera / 8 species),

1.1. Class: Ulvophyceae

Order: Ulvales
Family: Ulvaceae
Genus:Ulvaria
Species: Ulvaria obscura (Gayral ex Bliding, 1969).
Genus: Ulva
Species: Ulva lactuca (Linnaeus.C. 1753).
Genus: Ulva
Species: Ulva rigida (C. Agardh, 1823).
Genus: Enteromorpha
Species: Enteromorpha intestinalis (Linnaeus) Nees 1820.

Order:Bryopsidales
Family:Codiaceae
Genus:Codium
Species: Codium decorticatum(M. A. Howe, 1911)
Order: Cladophorales
Family: Cladophoraceae
Genus: Cladophora
Species:Cladophora laetevirens (Dillwyn Kűtzing, 1843).
Family:Caulerpaceae
Genus:Caulerpa
Species:Caulerpa racemosa(Forsskal) J.Agardh 1873.
Order: Ulotrichales
Family: Ulotrichaceae
Genus: Spongomorpha
Species: Spongomorpha aeruginosa (Linnaeus) Hoek 1963.

Order:Ectocarpales
Family: Scytosiphonaceae
Genus: Colpomenia Species:Colpomenia sinuosa (Mertens ex Roth) Derbès & Solier 1851.

3. Rhodophyta (9 order / 11 family / 13 genus /16 species)

3.1. Class: Florideophyceae
Order: Ceramiales
Family: Rhodomelaceae
Genus: Halopitys
Species:Halopitys incurvus (Hudson) Batters 1902.
Genus:Osmundea
Species: Osmundea osmunda (K.W.Nam & Maggs, 1994).
Species: Osmundea pinnatifida (Hudson) Stackhouse 1809.!!

Order: Ahnfeltiales
Family: Ahnfeltiaceae
Genus: Ahnfeltia
Species: Ahnfeltia plicata (Hudson) E.M.Fries 1836.

Order: Gigartinales
Family: Gigartinaceae
Genus: Chondracanthus
Species: Chondracanthus acicularis (Roth) Fredericq 1993
Family: Phyllophoraceae
Genus: Phyllophora
Species: Phyllophora crispa (Hudson) P.S Dixon 1964.
Family:Cystocloniaceae
Genus:Hypnea
Species: Hypnea spinella(C.Agardh) 1847.
Species: Hypnea musciformis (Wulfen) J.V. Lamouroux 1813.

Order: Corallinales
Family: Corallinaceae
Genus: Corallina
Species: Coralina elongata (Ellis & Solander, 1786).
Species: Corallina granifera (J.Ellis & Solander, 1786).

Order: Peyssonneliales
Family: Peyssonneliaceae
Genus: Peyssonnelia
Species: Peyssonneliasquamaria (S.G.Gmelin) Decaisne ex J.Agardh 1842.

Order: Gélidiales
Family: Pterocladiaceae
Genus: Pterocladia
Species: Pterocladia capillacea (S.G.Gemelin) Bornet 1876.

Order: Bonnemaisoniales
Family: Bonnemaisoniaceae
Genus: Asparagopsis
Species: Asparagopsis armata(Harvey, 1855).
Genus: Falkenbergia
Species: Falkenbergia rufolansa (Harvey) F.Schmitz 1897.

Order: Rhodymeniales
Family: Faucheaceae
Genus: Gloiocladia
Species: Gloiocladia repens (C.Agardh) N.Sanchez &Rodriguez-Prieto 2007.

Order: Plocamiales
Family: Plocamiaceae
Genus: Plocamium
Species: Plocamium cartilagineum (linnaeus) P.S Dixon 1967.

Discussion and Conclusion

We found that the variation in the average recovery rate of species over the four seasons does not obey a specific rule, as it is still influenced by several biotic and abiotic factors, which was also reported by Rodriguez-Prieto & Polo (1996). We suggested that the presence of a Pheophycea at all stations could indicate the good environmental condition with presence of Cystoseria stricta (Ramdani et al., 2020), and Caulerpa racemosa, which is not widely represented in this area (Boudouresque et al., 2002; Bachir et al., 2010). The augmentation of the pollution flows bonded to the urban development of the last years and the growing economic activities, will lead to time disturbances on the phytobenthic community in quantitative and qualitative domains, which was mentioned by Bachir (2012). We believed that our study should be continued over several annual cycles to understand the evolution of intertidal macroalgae better.

References

AlgaeBase. Available from: https://www.algaebase.org/search/species/

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