Taxonomical diversity ofPseudo‐nitzschiafrom the C entral A driatic S ea

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SUMMARY The aim of our research was to study the composition ofPseudo‐nitzschiaspecies during a period when neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) was present in shellfish. Sampling was conducted inKaštelaBay (CentralAdriaticSea), betweenNovember 2015 andJanuary 2016. Concentrations ofDAanalyzed in various shellfish species were low, below the regulatory limit, while the highest abundance ofPseudo‐nitzschiaspp. reached 1.85 × 105 cells L−1in the surface layer, at the beginning ofNovember. Within the temperature and salinity range recorded during the investigated period, a positive correlation ofPseudo‐nitzschiaspp. abundance was recorded with temperature. Morphological analyses by scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of fivePseudo‐nitzschiaspecies that had already been reported in theAdriaticSea –P. calliantha,P. delicatissima,P. fraudulenta,P. pseudodelicatissima/P. cuspidataandP. subfraudulenta–as well as an unknownPseudo‐nitzschiasp. The composition of thePseudo‐nitzschiaassemblage changed over the investigated period. The speciesP. pseudodelicatissima/P.cuspidatawas found throughout the entire period and the highest diversity was noticed in January, when all six observed species were recorded. These results represent the first taxonomical investigation of the genusPseudo‐nitzschiainKaštelaBay, as well as the first report ofDAin shellfish from this area.