G Attaran Fariman - Associate Professor, Department of Marine Biology, Chabahar School of Maritime and Marine Sciences
M Nazari - Graduate student of Marine Biology, Chabahar School of Maritime and Marine Sciences

Diatom pseudonitzchia is a poisonous genus of family Bacillariaceae causing harmful algal bloom in coastal waters in many parts of the world. At the time of bloom, these diatoms produce domoic acid and neurotoxin that by creating ASP syndrome can change ecosystems equilibrium following mortality of important groups like marine mammals and seabirds. In addition, it can threaten human health via food chains. Several cases of neurological disorder observed in humans 48 hours after consuming shellfishes. During the sampling of coastal waters of Chabahar Bay in February 2019, pseudonitzchia sp. was seen. In this study, seawater samples were collected for identification and isolation of pseudonitzchia like phytoplanktons. Then, the samples were transferred to petri dish including f2 media and pure isolation was maintained in the phycolab at 12:12 lighting: darkness period at 25 C°. Morphological observations showed the purified sample was most similar to Pseudonitzchia australia. Due to economic damages of HAB phytoplanktons to the aquaculture industry and threatening health of environment and humans, it is necessary to identify their morphology and phylogeny accurately

Isolation, Phytoplankton, Chabahar Bay, pseudonitzschia