Sterol composition of marine algae from Karachi coast of Arabian Sea

During the course of chemical investigation of marine algae collected from Karachi coast of Arabian Sea, five sterols named as sarangosterol(1), 23-methyl cholesta-5, 25-dien-3ß-ol(2) from Endarachne binghamiae (brown alga), sargasterol(3) from Dictyota indica (brown alga), cholesterol(4) from Laurencia obtusa (red alga) and clerosterol(5) from Codium iyengarii (green alga) have been isolated. Their structures were elucidated with the help of spectroscopic means.

Acyclic diterpene alcohols isolated from four algae of Bryopsidophyceae and their toxicity

Three new acylic diterpenoids belonging to the class of phytol series have been isolated. They were obtained from the ethyl acetate soluble fractions of four siphonaceous green seaweeds, Bryopsis pennata Lamour., Caulerpa taxifolia (Vahl) C. Ag., Codium decorticatum (Woodw.) Howe and Valoniopsis pachynema (Mart.) Børg., collected from Karachi coast of Pakistan. Structures of these compounds were elucidated with the help of spectroscopic methods and confirmed by comparison with the known compounds. Even the known compounds are being reported for the first time from a green algal source. All the compounds were found to display a strong toxicity at all the three concentrations tested in the brine shrimp bioassay.

Contribution to the study of the marine algae of Ceylon

Description of Ceylon marine algae are scattered through a range of scientific publications which are not readily available to students and research workers in Ceylon. There are few detailed studies in Algal taxonomy and the general distribution of algae in Ceylon has not been studied thoroughly. Some work has been done by foreign phycologist each of whom was in the island for a few months only and experienced difficulty collecting specimens from different parts of Ceylon.

Some marine algae from Ceylon - 1

Since his last publication "Contribution to the Study of the Marine Algae of Ceylon"(1961), the author has made several collections which contain interesting material which he has not hitherto described. This and any other material which he come across in future surveys will be described in a series of papers of which this is the first. The present paper includes the description of fourteen species of which three are new to science. These are deposited in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, Ceylon.

Preliminary trials on the toxicity of "Algistat" to fish and algae

Preliminary toxicity trials conducted with "Algistat" (an algicide) indicated that a dose of 0,66ppm of the compound was highly toxic to fish and 0.8ppm was the general lethal level for Spirogyra sp. The blue green algae, Oscillatoria sp., Mycrocystis sp. and Anabaena sp. were adversely affected by dosages higher than 0.5 ppm Euglena sp. was not affected even at 1.0 ppm.

Taxonomic study of brown algae commonly growing on the coast of Karachi, Pakistan

Fourteen commonly occurring species of marine benthic algae, i.e., Colpomenia sinuosa (Mertens ex Roth) Derbes et Solier, Dictyopteris australis (Sonder) Askenasy, Dictyota dichotoma (Hudson) Lamouroux D. dumosa Børgesen, D. hauckiana Nizamuddin, D. indica Sonder, D. maxima Zanardini, Hincksia mitchelliae (Harvey) Silva, Jolyna laminarioides Guimardes in Guimarâes et al., Padina tetrastromatica Hauck, Sargassum tenerrinum J. Agardh, Spatoglossum variabille Figari et De Notaris, Stoechospermum marginatum (C. Agardh) Kültzing and Stokeyia indica Thivy et Doshi, belonging to all three classes of Phaeophyta, were collected from coastal areas near Karachi, Pakistan and their taxonomy determined. Although all are taxonomically known species, Dictyota dichotoma, D. dumosa, D. hauckiana, D. indica, D. maxima, Jolyna laminarioides, Padina tetrastromatica, Sargassum tenerritnum and Stokeyia indica are described for the first time from the coast of Pakistan.

Some marine algae from Ceylon - 2. Laurencia lamouroux

The herbarium material belonging to the genus Laurencia kept at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya together with my collections of material belonging to this genus from various parts of Ceylon have been examined. Most of the material belonging to the genus Laurencia had been incorrectly identified and their true identity has been determined. A key to the Ceylon species of Laurencia is given.

Systematic study of the blue green algae of Ceylon kept at the herbarium of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya

The collection of blue green algae kept at the herbarium of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, was collected by Ferguson more than 70 years ago. Since then many changes have taken place in the taxonomy of the blue green algae. West (1902), Lemmermann (1907), Wine (1915), Crow (1923), Bharadwaja (1934) and Holsinger (1935) had described some of the blue green algae of Ceylon. While examining the collections of blue green algae kept at the herbarium, the authors found that most of the identifications were incorrect and required revision. In the present paper 20 blue green algae are described. The classification and key to the species are based on the characters given by Desikachary (1959). Blue green algae are important to fisheries since Chanos larvae feed on them.

Antibacterial properties of some marine algae of Sri Lanka

The authors report on the antibacterial activity of 11 algae, green, brown and red. Prepared extracts were tested, and varying degrees of activity were exhibited. Most activity was shown by Ulva fasciata, Sargassum cervicone and Halimeda macroloba.

A taxonomic study of some red algae commonly growing on the coast of Karachi

Eighteen commonly occurring species of marine benthic red algae, i.e., Asparagopsis taxiformis (Delile) Trevisan, Bangia atropurpurea (Roth) C. Agardh, Centroceras clavulatum (C. Agardh) Montagne, Calliblepharis fimbriata (Greville) Kiitzing, Coelarthrum muelleri (Sonder) B¢rgesen, Cottoniella filamentosa (Howe) B¢rgesen, Gracilariafoliifera (Forsskai) B¢rgesen, Halymenia porphyraeformis (B¢rgesen) Parkinson, Hypnea muscifor:mis (Wulfen) Lamouroux, Hypnea valentiae (Turner) Montagne, Laurencia obtusa (Hudson) Lamouroux, Me!anothamnus somalensis Bomet et Falkenberg, Porphyra vietnamensis Tanaka et Pham-hoang H6, Sarconema filiforme (Sonder) Kylin, Sebdenia flabellata (J. Agardh) Parkinson, Scinaia fascicularis (B¢rgesen) Huisman, Scinaia hatei B¢rgesen, and Solieria robusta (Greville) Kylin were collected from coastal areas near Karachi (Pakistan) and taxonomically investigated. All the investigated seaweeds are taxonomically known species. During this study, Melanothamnus somalensis is reported for the first time from northern Arabian Sea and Asparagopsis taxiformis, Bangia atropurpurea, Cottoniella filamentosa, Gracilaria foliifera, Halymenia porphyraeformis, Melanothamnus somalensis, Sarconema filiforme, Sebdenia flabellata, Scinaia fascicularis, and Solieria robusta are taxonomically described for the first time from the coast of Pakistan.

Growth and reproductive performance of locally isolated brackish water rotifer (Brachionus plicatilis) feeding different micro algae

Population growth and reproductive capacity of brackishwater rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis, were evaluated, for a period of 8 days in a temperature controlled ( =25°C) microalgallaborarory, under three different algal feeding regimens. The algal species that were tested are: (i) Chlorella sp. (T1), Tetraselmis chui (T2), Nannochloropsis oculata (T 3). The feeding density of each algal species was maintained similar as of 4.5xW6 ceHs mi. The rotifer fed on T. chui showed the highest (p<0.05) population growth (131.5 ind./ml), compared to that fed on Chlorella sp (45.67 ind./ml) and N oculata (43.44 ind./ml). The abundance of egg bearing rotifers was also higher (35.77%) with T. chuithan with Chlorella sp (27.76%) and N oculara (24.60%). The results of the present study indicate that T. chui could be the most suitable algal food for the stock culture of locally isolated rotifer B. plicatilis.

Taxonomic study of coenocytic green algae commonly growing on the coast of Karachi

Twelve commonly occurring coenocytic and siphonaceous species of marine benthic algae, i.e., Bryopsis pennatta Lamouroux, Caulerpa chemnitzia (Esper) Lamouroux, Ca. faridii Nizamuddin, Ca. manorensis Nizamuddin, Ca. racemosa (Forsskal) J. Agardh, Ca. taxifolia. (Vahl) C. Agardh, Chaetomorpha antennina (Bory de Saint-Vincent) Kutzing, Cladophora uncinella Harvey, Codium decorticatum (Woodward) Howe, Co. flabellatum Nizamuddin, Co. iyengarii Borgesen, and Valoniopsis pachynema (Martens) Borgesen, belonging to four different orders of the class Bryopsidophyceae, division Chlorophyta, were collected from the intertidal region of different coastal areas near Karachi (Pakistan) and investigated taxonomically. Codium decorticatum is a new report from this region and Co. decorticatum, Co. flabellatum and Co. iyengarii are described for the first time from the coast of Pakistan.

Culture of green algae Chlorella ellipsoidea in inexpensive media

The culture of the of green alga Chlorella ellipsoidea was conducted under natural conditions at the same place simultaneously in five different media, viz., medium-I (inorganic medium), medium-II (powdered whole-pulse medium), medium-III (medium of pulse bran), medium-IV (mixed medium = 50% inorganic medium + 50% whole-pulse powder medium), medium-V (mixed medium = 50% inorganic medium + 50% pulse bran medium). The culture was done in 500 ml conical flask. Growth rates of C. ellipsoidea in five different media were different and reached maximum cell densities of 0.63 x 10^6 cells per ml in 8 days in medium-I, 4.02 x 10^6 cells per ml in 10 days in medium-II, 3.62 x 10^6 cells per ml in 9 days in medium-III, 4.38 x 10^6 cells per ml in 11 days in medium-IV and 4.36 x 10^6 cells per ml in 11 days in medium-V. The range of air temperature was 20 to 33°C and that of culture media was 24 to 32°C and light intensity was 2000 to 7000 lux during the culture period. The inexpensive culture media were found to be significantly useful for algal culture.

Preserved algae as food for Penaeus monodon larvae

Uni-algal cultures of C. calcitrans, S. costatum, T. chui and Isochrysis sp. obtained from the laboratory were harvested. The harvest, preserved by either freezing or sun-drying, was fed to the larvae of P. monodon . Among the test algal species, Chaetoceros and Tetraselmis were used in larval feeding trials with frozen food while Chaetoceros, Tetraselmis and Isochrysis species were utilized in feeding experiments with sun-dried algae. Their relative effects on larval survival and development were assessed. Results showed that, except the alum-flocculated cells, both frozen Chaetoceros and Tetraselmis can support survival at the zoea stage. Best survival of 68% was atained with dried Chaetoceros followed by Tetraselmis at 44%. Dried Isochrysis did not perform as well, a significantly low survival of only 25% was obtained.