Dumbbell-like organisms of marine ecotopes in the coastal waters of the Sevastopol region

Abstract

The results are presented of the long-term studies of phytoplankton, periphyton, benthos samples and the scrapings from dolphin skin during a prolonged cultivation utilizing the modified Gromovs 6 media. In some cases, under a microscope in the obtained cultures unusual organisms were detected, which were observed as dumbbell shaped, silvery olive color and comparable size to some microalgae forms. It was noted that depending on the habitat and incubation duration on the media, they varied in size and their developmental extend. It is not possible currently to obtain a pure culture, and the taxonomic affiliation of these microorganisms is also unknown.