Plankton Multiproxy Analyses in the Northern Patagonian Shelf, Argentina: Community Structure, Phycotoxins, and Characterization of Toxic Alexandrium Strains

GUINDER, VALERIA; TILLMANN, URBAN; KROCK, BERND; DELGADO, ANA LAURA; KROHN, TORBEN; GARZON CARDONA, JOHN ; METFIES, KATIA; LOPEZ ABATTE, CELESTE; SILVA, RICARDO; LARA, RUBEN

Frontiers in Marine Science

Frontiers

Lugar: Lausanne; Año: 2018 vol. 5 p. 1 - 21

The extensive Argentine continental shelf supports high plankton productivity and fishcatches. In particular, El Rincón coastal area and the adjacent shelf fronts (38.5?42S, 58.5?62W) comprise diverse habitats and hold species of economic and ecological value. So far, studies of the microbial community present at the base of the food web remain scarce. Here, we describe the late winter plankton (5?200 mm) structure in terms of abundance, biomass, species composition, functional groups, and phycotoxin profiles in surface waters of El Rincón in September 2015. Diatoms are the most abundant and the largest contributors to carbon biomass at most stations. They dominated the coastal and inner-shelf (depths