Comparison of the seasonal diversity of planktonic cyanobacteria in clear and turbid shallow coastal waters of Kuwait using culture-independent techniques

The warm shallow coastal water of Kuwait with its rich nutrient content and low N/P ratio is a suitable habitat for diverse planktonic cyanobacteria. However, it is expected that turbidity plays a large role in determining the strains of planktonic cyanobacteria present in different seasons. To study the effect of turbidity on phytoplankton diversity, two locations were selected; these are Subiyah and Khiran. These locations differ mainly in their levels of turbidity, which is ten fold higher in Subiyah than in Khiran. Our finding is that the diversity of planktonic cyanobacteria increased with increased turbidity, with the majority of planktonic cyanobacteria in turbid waters being filamentous Oscillatoriales. Prokaryotic picophytoplankton ranged between 25-100% of total prokaryotic phytoplankton, the proportion increasing with higher water temperature (reaching 34°C) and decreasing with the increase of turbidity. Synechococcus sp. clade VIII dominated, most of which were clone affiliates to the coastal euryhaline Snechococcus sp. WH8101.