This study concerns first detailed taxonomic record and distribution of Coscinodiscus jonesianus from North Arabian Sea bordering Pakistan after an incident of Tasman Spirit Oil Spill. The study comprised of 5 phytoplankton samples collected immediate after Tasman Spirit Oil Spill (TSOS) and 16 samples after 1.5 year of spill in Bioremedial Project (BP). Scanning Electron Microscopic illustrations along with morphometric comparisons have also been presented

Baig, Hina S.

Rehman, Aliya

Tabassum, Asma

Aquatic Commons

Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 22(1&2), 23-26, 2013.  
 
FIRST DETAILED TAXONOMIC REPORT OF COSCINODISCUS JONESIANUS 
FROM NORTH ARABIAN SEA AFTER TASMAN SPIRIT OIL SPILL 
 
Asma Tabassum, Hina S. Baig and Aliya Rehman 
Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi-Pakistan (AT, AR); 
National Institute of Oceanography, Karachi-Pakistan (HSB). 
email: centricdiatomist@gmail.com 
 
ABSTRACT: This study concerns first detailed taxonomic record and distribution of 
Coscinodiscus jonesianus from North Arabian Sea bordering Pakistan after an incident of 
Tasman Spirit Oil Spill. The study comprised of 5 phytoplankton samples collected 
immediate after Tasman Spirit Oil Spill (TSOS) and 16 samples after 1.5 year of spill in 
Bioremedial Project (BP). Scanning Electron Microscopic illustrations along with 
morphometric comparisons have also been presented. 
 
KEYWORDS: North Arabian Sea, taxonomic record, Coscinodiscus jonesianus, 
Tasman Spirit Oil Spill. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Since Ehrenberg in 1839 erected the genus Coscinodiscus, it has been reported by 
various workers from different coastal zones of the world (Holmes, 1967; Ferrario and 
Sar, 1994; Lee, 1989; Lee et al., 1992; Fernandes et al., 2001; Sar et al., 2008; Sar et al., 
2010; Gomez and Souissi, 2010). More than 14 species of this genus have been described 
from Pakistani coastal waters (Moazzam 1973; Sahmeel and Tanaka, 1992; Tabassum 
and Saifullah, 2012). 
Coscinodiscus jonesianus was examined in detail by Greville (1962), Ostenfeld 
(1915), Prasad and Livingston (1996) and Sar et al., 2008. Earlier it was only reported by 
Shameel and Tanaka (1992) but its detailed taxomonic description was not documented 
by any researcher from Pakistani coastal zone. Present study is the illustration of first 
detailed taxonomic record of Coscinodiscus jonesianus from North Arabian Sea 
bordering Pakistan with comparison of their morphometric measurements with reports of 
other workers. 
 
MATERIALS & METHODS 
 
Area of study and materials and methods (Tabassum et al. 2010; Tabassum et al. 
2011) including protocol of Scanning Electron Microscopy (Tabassum et al. 2010) have 
already been described in earlier reports. 
Observations and results: 
Coscinodiscus jonesianus (Greville) Ostenfeld (Fig. 1a, b and c) 
Lee, 1989, p. 70-72, Figs. 1-19 (p. 73-75); Hasle and Syvertsen, 1997, pp. 107, Plate 
17 (p. 102); Sar et al., 2008, p. 404 & 405, Figs. 4-9 & 10-14. Date of sampling: 19 
November 2003. 
Morphometric data: Apical axis: 113 μm 
Valves discoid, solitary, rounded with slightly convex face, drum shaped in girdle 
 Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 22(1&2), 2013. 
  
24 
view, large central areolae present in radial rows with distinct marginal ring of processes, 
cribra present with centric arrangements, chromatophores numerous with discoid plastids. 
It was commonly found at station 2 (240 80’816 N: 660 99’215 E) of Tasman Spirit 
Oil Spill but was not recorded from stations of Bio remedial Project. C. jonesianus was 
reported by several authors (e.g., Lee, 1989: Korean and Mexican Coastal Waters; 
Shameel and Tanaka, 1992: North Arabian Sea; Hasle and Syvertsen, 1997; Caraus, 
2002: Romania; Hallfors, 2004: Baltic Sea; Liu, 2008: Chinese Seas; Sar et al., 2008. 
 
Fig. 1. a, Coscinodiscus jonesianus. Scanning Electron Microscopic valve view of a cell  
 showing areloae. Scale bar = 20 µm; b, Coscinodiscus jonesianus. Scanning 
Electron Microscopic view of areolae in 2 µm; c, Coscinodiscus jonesianus. 
Scanning Electron Microscopic structure in girdle. Scale bar = 10 µm. 
 
Table 1: Comparison of apical axis of C. jonesianus recorded from different 
locations by different workers. 
 
(Korean and Mexican 
coastal waters) 
Lee,1989 
(Buenos Aires, 
Argentina) 
Sar et al., 2008 
Hasle and 
Syvertsen, 1997 
(North Arabian 
Sea) 
Present study 
Apical axis 102µm - 146µm 106µm - 226µm 140µm - 280µm 113µm 
Tabassum et al.: Taxonomic report of Coscinodiscus jonesianus 
 
25 
DISCUSSION 
 
C. jonesianus was only mentioned in a checklist by Shameel and Tanaka (1992) 
from Pakistani coastal zone but its detailed taxonomic description was not presented by 
any of the worker from this area. In this study C. jonesianus is described by the help of 
morphological characteristics shown in Scanning Electron Microscopic illustrations. 
Valve morphology showed drum shaped cells in girdle view. Large central areolae 
arranged in radial rows with distinct marginal ring of processes. Cribra also present with 
centric arrangements. Moreover comparative measurement of apical axis with reports of 
other workers also agreed well (Table 1). This study also showed that C. jonesianus was 
commonly recorded only from 1 station out of 5 during TSOS (Table 2). Whereas it was 
absent in samples of BP. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
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First detailed taxonomic report of Coscinodiscus jonesianus from North Arabian Sea after Tasman Spirit Oil Spill

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First detailed taxonomic report of Coscinodiscus jonesianus from North Arabian Sea after Tasman Spirit Oil Spill

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