Longitudinal patterns of spring-intermonsoon phytoplankton biomass, species compositions and size structure in the Bay of Bengal

Vertical distributions of phytoplankton biomass, compositions and size structure were investigated during the spring-intermonsoon （April 22 to 30） of 2010 along transact 10°N of the Bay of Bengal, northern Indian Ocean. Surface phytoplankton biomass （Chl a） was （0.065±0.009） μg/L, being greater than 80% of which was contributed by pico-phytoplankton （〈3 μm）. The Chl a concen- tration vertically increased to the maximal values at deep chlorophyll maximum （DCM） layer that shoaled eastwards from 75 to 40 m. The Chl a biomass at DCM layer generally varied between 0.2 and 0.4 μg/L, reaching the maximum of 0.56 μg/L with micro-phytoplankton cells （~20 #m） accounting for 58% and nano- （3-20μm） or pico-cells for 15% and 27%, respectively. In particular, the cells concentration coupling well with phosphate level was observed at middle layer （75-100 m） of 87° to 89°E, dominated by micro-cells diatoms （e.g., Chaetoceros atlanticus v. neapolitana, Chaetoceros femur and Pseudonitzsehia sp.） and cyanobacteria （i.e., Trichodesmium hildebrandtii）, With the ceils concentration reached as high as 4.0 × 10^4 and 4.3 × 10^4 cells/L. At the rest of the trans- act however, dinoflagellates （e.g., Amphisdinium carterae and Prorocentrum sp.） were the dominant species, with the cells concentration varying from 0.3×10^3 to 6.8×10^3 cells/L. Our results also indicate that the regulation of large cells （micro-, nano-） on phytoplankton biomass merely occurred at DCM layer of the Bay.