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International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences (IJCMAS)
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Original Research Articles                      Volume : 5, Issue:10, October, 2016

PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706
Issues : 12 per year
Publisher : Excellent Publishers
Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com /
submit@ijcmas.com
Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash
Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39
NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38

Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci.2016.5(10): 69-78
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.510.009


Primary Study of the Non-Marine Epilithic Diatom Communities of Malta and Gozo
Francesca Marie Saliba1, Mohamed Mahmoud Ghobara2*, Everaldo Attard3 and Bridget Ellul4 
1Department of Rural Science and Food Systems, Institute of Earth Systems, Malta University,
2Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt
 3Institute of Earth Systems, Rural Sciences and Food Systems, Malta University,Msida, MSD2080, Malta
 4Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Malta University, Block A,Level 0 Mater Dei Hospital, Msida MSD2090, Malta
*Corresponding author
Abstract:

Non-marine epilithic diatom communities of two major Maltese islands, Malta & Gozo, were investigated for the first time. Fourty four samples were collected from eleven stations, which represented different springs and spring-fed streams distributed over the two islands. Extraction of diatoms and preparation of clean slides for microscipic investigation was carried out. A total number of 51 taxa belonging to 23 genera were identified. The most represented genera were Nitzschia, Amphora, Surirella, Luticola & Navicula. The most represented species were Gomphonema parvulum, Hanztschia amphysioxy, Nitzschia palea & Amphora ovalis. Most of the identified taxa show moderate to strong association with pollution, and show potential as indicators for forensic science and environmental assessment.


Keywords: Diatoms,Epilithic,Non-marine, Malta,Gozo.

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How to cite this article:

Francesca Marie Saliba, Mohamed Mahmoud Ghobara, Everaldo Attard, Bridget Ellul. 2016.  Primary Study of the Non-Marine Epilithic Diatom Communities of Malta and Gozo.Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 5(10): 69-78. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.510.009
Copyright: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

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