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Colonization features of biofilm-dwelling protozoa, especially ciliates, are routinely used as a useful tool for marine bioassessment. In this review, we summarize some of these features to develop an optimal sampling strategy for using biofilm-dwelling protozoa as bioindicators of marine water quality. We focus on the utility of: (1) diversity indices to analyze the colonization features of biofilm-dwelling protozoa for monitoring marine water quality; (2) MacArthur–Wilson and logistic equation models to determine spatio-temporal variations in colonization dynamics; and (3) homogeneity in taxonomic breadth of biofilm-dwelling protozoa during the process of colonization. The main findings are that: (1) the colonization dynamics of biofilm-dwelling protozoa are similar at depths of 1–5 m in spring and autumn; (2) temporal variability was well fitted to the MacArthur–Wilson and logistic models (P

The Karnafullly River, which flows through Chattogram and falls into the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, is vulnerable to microplastic contamination. In this study, we looked at microplastics in the Karnafully River's surface water (5 sites), sediment (9 sites), and biota (4 species). Microplastic concentrations ranged from 0.57 ± 0.07 to 6.63 ± 0.52 items/L in surface water, 143.33 ± 3.33 to 1240 ± 5.77 items/kg dry weight in sediment, and 5.93 ± 0.62 to 13.17 ± 0.76 items/species in biota. A significant difference (P 0.05) was found in the concentration of MPs in the Karnafully River's sediment, biota, and surface water. High percentage of fiber-shaped and small-sized MPs (1 mm) were detected throughout the samples. Water and sediment MPs were often transparent/white and blue, whereas biota MPs were mostly black and red, indicating a color preference during biological uptake. The Bay of Bengal received 61.3 × 10

The colonization features of ciliate communities have proved to be a useful tool for indicating water quality status in aquatic ecosystems. To determine an optimal water depth for bioassessment using these ecological bioindicators, the colonization process of periphytic ciliates was studied at four depths of 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m in Chinese coastal waters. Samples were collected at time intervals of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days using glass slides. The periphytic ciliate communities represented similar colonization dynamics from a depth of 1 to 3.5 m: (1) the temporal variability was well fitted to the MacArthur-Wilson and logistic models; (2) the species composition reached an equilibrium during the exposure time periods of 10–14 days; and (3) the maximum abundances were definitely higher at a depth of 1 m than those at 3.5 m. PERMANOVA test revealed that the colonization pattern at 1 m depth was significantly different from those at the other three depths. Results suggest that the colonization dynamics of periphytic ciliates may be influenced by water depth in coastal waters. These findings provide an important reference for establishing an optimal sampling strategy for bioassessment on large spatial/temporal scales in marine ecosystems.

Biological trait analysis (BTA) of protozoan communities has been used a useful bioindicator of environmental quality status in marine ecosystems. To determine the optimal water depths for bioassessment using multiple functional traits of periphytic protozoa, community functioning was studied at different water depths in the Yellow Sea, northern China. The community-weighted means (CWM) of bacterivores with small sizes showed an increasing trend from surface layers to the deeper ones, while those of algivores with medium and large sizes revealed an opposite trend, i.e., a decreasing trend from surface layers to deeper ones. However, with those of predators were distributed at depths of 2 to 3.5 m. There was a significant difference in the functional patterns, except for those at depths of 2 to 3.5 m (P > 0.05). All diversity indices except FDiv generally peaked and leveled off at either 2 or 3.5 m although they decreased with depth. The results suggest that sampling at depths of 2 and 3.5 m may be an optimal strategy for assessing water quality using the functional pattern of protozoa in coastal ecosystems.

To investigate the seasonal heterogeneity of the periphytic ciliate communities, a 1-year baseline survey was conducted in the Karnaphuli River estuary, northern Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. A total of 54 ciliate species were recorded, including seven common and 14 dominant species. Maximum species number was in autumn whereas maximum abundance was in winter; the minimum for both occurred in summer. Multivariate analyses, i.e., canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) and principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA), revealed a clear seasonal heterogeneity of community structure and environmental variables. Multivariate correlation analysis (RELATE) demonstrated that the community structure of the periphytic ciliate communities was significantly correlated with environmental variables, and best matching analysis (BIOENV) indicated that heterogeneity of community patterns was mainly driven by water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids and nutrients. Species richness and diversity peaked in autumn whereas species evenness peaked in summer. These results suggest that environmental conditions shape periphytic ciliate community structure, which is a potentially useful bio-indicator of estuarine water quality.

To reveal the seasonal variability in biological trait distribution for monitoring surveys based on periphytic protozoa, a baseline survey was carried out in a coastal region of Yellow Sea, northern China. A total of 40 slide samples were collected in a four season cycle after an exposure time period of 14 days. The results demonstrated that: (1) the community-weighted means (CWM) of algivores with large and medium sizes were high in spring and summer, while bacterivores with small size were high in autumn and winter; (2) there was a significant seasonal variation in the protozoan community functions, especially from spring/summer to autumn and winter; and (3) functional diversity indices generally peaked in spring or summer. Thus, there was a significant seasonal variation in protozoan community functions and this approach may be used to determine an optimal sampling strategy for monitoring programs in marine ecosystems.

Biological trait analysis (BTA) has been proved to be a powerful tool to evaluate marine water quality. The species trait distributions of biofilm-dwelling protozoa were studied in a coastal region of the Yellow Sea, northern China, during a four-season cycle. The BTA demonstrated that: (1) the protozoa showed a significant seasonal variability in biological trait pattern during the colonization process across four seasons; (2) the colonization dynamics in species trait distribution followed different temporal models; (3) the functional dynamics in spring and summer were significantly different from those in autumn and winter (P 0.05); and (4) functional diversity showed lower values in spring and summer than in autumn and winter. These findings suggest that BTA is subject to a high seasonal variability during colonization surveys when protozoa are used as bioindicators of marine water quality.

It is increasingly recognized that Estuarine Set Bag Net (ESBN) is very popular gear in the coastal fishing community of Bangladesh. In order to reveal the species composition of the ESBN catch and to study the impact of environmental parameters on the spatio-temporal variation of fish assemblages, a one-year baseline survey was conducted in coastal waters of the Moheshkhali Island, northern Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. A total of 59 taxa were identified of which 47 were finfishes, 7 were shrimps and 5 were from other categories i.e. crab, holothruim, lobster, squid and squila. Among them, 54 species were commonly distributed in all four seasons and stations with 23 and 24 species were found dominant to the total communities in different seasons and sites, respectively. Similarity percentage analysis revealed significant variation in structure and composition of total communities in temporal and spatial scale: (1) the highest (89.33%) and lowest (70.10%) average species similarity was observed in monsoon and winter, respectively; (2) the average species similarity was found highest in Sonadia (88.30%) and lowest in Nalbila (74.83%). SIMPER analysis demonstrated that the contributory species (i.e. Crab, Squid, Pampus chinensis, Chirocentrus nudus, Ascetes sp. Penaeus monodon, Metapenaeus brevicornes, Arius sp., Tenualosa ilisha, Uranoscopus sp., Machrobrachium ruddis, Gerres filamentosus, Coillia dussumieri, Squila, Glossogobius giuris, Rastrelliger kanagurta, Rhynchorhamphus georgii, Chirocentrus nudus, Ascetes sp., Metapenaeus brevicornes, Tenualosa ilisha, Uranoscopus sp., Rhynchorhamphus georgii, Penaeus indicus) varied among different sites and seasons. One-way ANOVA and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed that the total communities were significantly driven by temperature, salinity, pH, DO and water transparency. Multivariate analyses showed that the diversity of ESBN fishery is high in this Island. These findings signify that this coastal zone is one of the nursery grounds and highly diversified for many marine fishes.

To identify the seasonal variability of body-size spectrum for monitoring surveys based on periphytic protozoa, a one-year baseline survey was carried out in a coastal region of Yellow Sea, northern China. A total of 240 glass slides were collected after immersion times of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days in a four season cycle, i.e., winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Body-size ranks S2 and S5 dominated the periphytic protozoan communities from the initial stage (from day 3) to the next periods in spring and autumn, while body-size ranks S7, S8 and S4 showed high variety at the equilibrium stages (from day 10) in summer and winter. The expectation analysis revealed that the samples had different patterns of departure from the anticipated body-size spectrum in each season. This study shows that an ideal sampling approach needs to be established when protozoa is used as bioindicators of marine water quality.

To determine the effects of water depths on taxonomic breadth of biofilm-dwelling ciliates in marine ecosystems, (1-month) baseline survey was conducted in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Utilizing glass slides as artificial substrates, samples were collected at four depths of 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m after a 14-day exposure period. Taxonomic patterns and taxonomic distinctness measures showed a significant difference among four water depths. Ellipse tests on the pairs of average taxonomic distinctness ( Δ + ) and variation in taxonomic distinctness ( Λ + ) demonstrated a vertical variability in taxonomic structure of the ciliate communities from 1 m to 5 m, with high levels at 1 and 2 m compared to those at the other two depths. These results suggest that water depth may significantly shape the taxonomic breadth of biofilm-dwelling ciliates, and that an optimal sampling strategy should be determined before monitoring surveys in marine ecosystems.

Trophic-functional patterns of periphytic protozoan communities are routinely used as a tool for marine bioassessment. In this study, a biofilm sampling approach was used to evaluate the effect of water depth on trophic-functional groupings of periphytic protozoa during the colonization process in Chinese coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. A total of 240 glass microscope slides were used to collect the protozoan assemblages at four water depths, i.e., 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m, after immersion periods of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 d. Four trophic-functional groups (TFgrs) were recorded from a 92-species abundance dataset, namely algivores (TFgr A), non-selectives (TFgr N), bacterivores (TFgr B) and predators (TFgr R), comprising 39, 26, 17 and 10 species, respectively. The TFgrs differed with depth in the water column in both relative species number and relative abundances. TFgrs A and N generally dominated the samples and increased in abundance with increasing depth from 1 m to 3.5 m, whereas TFgrs B and R decreased in abundance with increasing depth. Distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) demonstrated that the colonization dynamics in trophic-functional patterns differed among the four depths. Multidimensional scaling ordinations (MDS) based on bootstrap average analyses revealed a clear shift in trophic-functional groupings from surface to deeper layers. This study shows that an optimal sampling strategy needs to be developed for marine bioassessment.

In order to evaluate the seasonal shifts of colonization dynamics in trophic-functional groups of biofilm-dwelling ciliates, a one-year baseline survey was carried out in Chinese coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. Utilizing glass microscope slides as artificial substrates, a total of 240 slides were used to collect ciliates after immersion times of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days during each of four seasons, i.e., February, May, August and November, 2017 representing winter, spring, summer, and autumn, respectively. Four trophic-functional groups (TFgrs) were recorded from a 122 species-dataset, i.e., algivores (A), non-selectives (N), raptors (R) and bacterivores (B), comprising of 65, 31, 12 and 14 species, respectively. Based on these four TFgrs, the colonization dynamics of biofilm-dwelling ciliates exhibited different seasonal patterns in terms of both frequency of occurrence and probability density during the study period. During colonization processes, TFgrs A, N and B occurred frequently and generally dominated the samples following an increase in abundance of their members from spring to autumn, whereas TFgr R generally showed different colonization dynamics during the four seasons. Distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) demonstrated that the colonization dynamics of the trophic-functional groups followed different models in each of the four seasons. Multidimensional scaling ordinations (MDS) based on bootstrapped-average analyses revealed a clear shift in dominance of trophic-functional groups from spring to winter. Thus, the colonization feature of biofilm-dwelling protozoa as measured by trophic-functional structure differed seasonally, suggesting that an optimal sampling strategy needs to be developed when using ciliates as bioindicators on marine water quality.

It is increasingly recognized that the body-size spectrum of biofilm-dwelling ciliates is an informative bioindicator of environmental change in marine ecosystems. In order to reveal the effects of water depth on the body-size spectrum of biofilm-dwelling ciliates during the colonization process, a 1-month baseline survey was carried out in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Using glass slides as artificial substrates, a total of 240 microscopy slides were collected from four depths, i.e., 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m, after colonization periods of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days. A total of 92 ciliate species were collected. Based on its equivalent spherical diameter (ESD), each species was allocated to one of eight body-size ranks (S1–S8): S1 (13– 17 μ m ), S2 (20– 26 μ m ), S3 (30– 34 μ m ), S4 (35– 49 μ m ), S5 (54– 63 μ m ), S6 (66– 93 μ m ), S7 (120– 161 μ m ) and S8 (162– 247 μ m ). The body-size spectrum showed a clear temporal variability in both frequency of occurrence and probability density during the colonization process at the four depths: S1 was dominant in immature samples whereas mature samples were dominated by S3. Multidimensional scaling ordinations (MDS) and bootstrap average analyses revealed a clear shift in body-size spectra from surface to deeper water layers during the colonization process. Ellipse tests demonstrated that the samples showed different patterns of departure from the expected body-size spectrum at each depth during the colonization period. These findings suggest that water depth may significantly shape the body-size spectra of biofilm-dwelling ciliates, and that there may be an optimal water depth when using this feature for monitoring marine ecosystems.

The colonization features of periphytic protozoa have proved to be a useful tool for indicating water quality status in aquatic ecosystems. In order to reveal the seasonal variations in colonization dynamics of the protozoa, a 1-year baseline survey was carried out in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Using glass slides as artificial substrates, a total of 240 slides were collected at a depth of 1 m in four seasons after colonization periods of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days. A total of 122 ciliate species were identified with 21 dominant species. The colonization dynamics of the protozoa were well fitted to the MacArthur-Wilson and logistic models in all four seasons (P 0.05). However, the equilibrium species numbers (S

To determine an optimal sampling strategy for collecting samples with an expected taxonomic breadth, a 1-year baseline colonization survey was conducted in Chinese coastal waters using glass slides as an artificial substratum for biofilm-dwelling ciliates. A total of 240 slide samples were collected at a depth of 1 m in a four-season cycle. The taxonomic composition and structure of the ciliate communities differed from spring to winter. The colonization dynamics in taxonomic distinctness showed a significant variability among the four seasons. Expectation tests on the pairs of average taxonomic distinctness indices demonstrated a seasonal variability in taxonomic breadth of the ciliates, with high expectation levels in spring and autumn and low levels in the other two seasons. These findings suggest that there was a significant seasonal variability in taxonomic breadth for colonization surveys of biofilm-dwelling ciliates, and that an optimal sampling strategy should be determined for bioassessment in marine ecosystems.

To evaluate the water quality status using ecological features of the periphytic ciliate communities, a 1-year (Jan. to Dec., 2016) investigation was conducted in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Four trophic-functional groups (TFgrs) were recorded from a total of 141 species-abundance dataset: algivores (A); bacterivores (B); non-selectives (N); and predators (R), comprising of 65, 34, 26, and 16 species, respectively. In terms of species number, TFgr A was predominant in clean areas while TFgrs B and N were dominant in heavy polluted areas and TFgr R was dominant in slightly polluted area. The trophic-functional patterns of the periphytic ciliate communities showed a clear spatial variation within the pollution gradient. Trophic-functional trait diversity measures represented a clear increasing trend from polluted stations to the clean area regarding the pollution gradients. Multivariate correlation and best matching analysis revealed that the spatial pattern of the trophic-functional groupings were significantly shaped by environmental variable nutrients and chemical oxygen demand, alone or in combination with pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, and transparency. Thus, we suggest that the ecological features based on the trophic-functional patterns of periphytic ciliate communities might be used for bioassessment of water quality in marine ecosystems.

A multivariate peeling method of data analysis was applied to determine indicator redundancy and for identifying indicator units (IUs) among biofilm-dwelling ciliate communities used for bioassessment of marine water quality. Samples were taken monthly over a 1-year period at four stations in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea: one heavily polluted, one moderately polluted, one intermittently polluted, and one unpolluted. Four IUs (IU1–4) were identified consisting of 22, 13, 14, and 17 species, respectively, out of a total of 144 species. The IUs showed significant correlation with temporal and spatial variations in environmental variables. The redundancy levels of IUs were interchangeable in time and space. However, IU1 and IU2 generally dominated the communities in moderately and intermittently polluted areas during cool (e.g., early spring, late autumn, and winter) and warm (late spring and early autumn) seasons; IU3 dominated in warm seasons (e.g., late spring to autumn) in the heavily polluted area; and IU4 mainly dominated the samples in the unpolluted and moderately polluted areas during the late summer and early autumn. Furthermore, different trophic-functional groupings were represented within the four IUs and these were generally associated with water quality status. These findings suggest that there is high indicator redundancy in marine biofilm-dwelling ciliate communities subjected to different levels of water quality.

Taxonomic distinctness is powerful tool to test the departure of a community from an expected pattern of taxonomic structure in response to environmental change. To determine the homogeneity in taxonomic breadth of periphytic ciliates, a 1-month baseline colonization survey was conducted in Jiaozhou Bay, near Qingdao, northern China, using glass slides as artificial substrates. A total of 240 slides were collected at depths of 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m after colonization periods of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days. The taxonomic composition and structure of the periphytic ciliate communities differed among the four water depths. The temporal variations in all four taxonomic diversity/distinctness measures had different patterns of variability at each depth. Ellipse test on the pairs of average taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) and variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ+) demonstrated a spatial variability in homogeneity in taxonomic structure of the ciliate communities from 1 m to 5 m, with high levels at 1 and 2 m compared to those at the other two depths. These results suggest that taxonomic distinctness is a useful indicator to identify the homogeneity in taxonomic breadth of periphytic ciliate communities during the colonization process in marine ecosystems.

Body-size spectra are inherent characteristics of organisms that can be used to summarise the functional structure of a community and thus be used in both ecological studies and biomonitoring programs. In order to determine the effect of water depth on body-size spectra of marine periphytic ciliate communities, a 1-month baseline survey was conducted at four depths (1, 2, 3.5 and 5m) in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Based on equivalent spherical diameters (ESD), 50 species were categorised into seven body-size ranks: S1, 2–17μm; S2, 22–27μm; S3, 29–36μm; S4, 37–49μm; S5, 53–71μm; S6, 84–92μm; S7, 127–153μm. These seven body-size ranks were composed of four trophic functional groups: algivores (A), bacterivores (B), predators (R) and non-selectives (N). Body-size rank S1 was composed primarily of the B functional group; S2 was composed of the N and R functional groups, S3 and S4 were composed of the A, B and N functional groups, S5 and S6 were composed of the A functional group and S7 was composed of the R functional group. The medium body-size ranks (S4 and S5) were dominant at 1 and 2m, whereas the smallest body-size rank (S1) was dominant at 3.5 and 5m. Canonical analysis of principal coordinates revealed a clear vertical variation in body-size spectra at the four depths. Body-size diversity indices peaked at 2–3.5m and fell sharply at 5m. Body-size diversity indices peaked at 2–3.5m and fell sharply at 5m. Body-size distinctness, as measured by the paired-index (ellipse) test, showed an increasing trend of departure from the expected pattern from surface to deeper layers. These results suggest that the body-size spectra of periphytic ciliates may be significantly shaped by water depth and thus may be used as bioindicators of the ecological integrity and quality of water at different depths in marine ecosystems.

In this study S.rubroviolaceus form very ancient family group Scorpaenidae with structurally diverse group of subphylum Vertebrata was collected form from parangipettai (MAB06)for species identification with inter specific variation among barcoding region sequenceing cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene comparing with Australia (EF609452), Tonga (FJ584082), South Africa (GU805008), Iran (HQ149928). The intraspecific variation analysis in NCBI screend for COI sequence form different geographical regions results 99% to 100% identity. BOLD’s identification engine shows 99.68% to 100% similar of 20 specimens with conformation of COI species database tree that S.rubroviolaceus belongs to order Carangidae. The molar concentration of nucleotides in the COI region profiling barcoding valuates that high in thymine content are similar in all the samples, Cytosine as second predominant and guanine as least molar concentration. A helical wheel is ploted to illustrate the properties of alpha helices in proteins. Multiple sequence alignments for DNA sequences similarities query were analysed with Clustal W from EMBL tools.