The elusive green alga Catena viridis Chodat: a possible second record for the British Isles from Scotland
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This note concerns an unusual algal specimen that was recorded in a sample collected from Loch Ore, Fife, Scotland on 14th August 2024, during a routine phytoplankton analysis carried out as part of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (SEPA) monitoring of the ecological status of freshwater lochs using phytoplankton.The open-water sample had been collected using a throw sampler from the shore at the north-eastern edge of the loch at the yacht jetty near the outlet, and immediately preserved with Lugol's solution.Loch Ore is a large (surface area 0.85 km 2 , volume 4.47×10 6 m 3 ), shallow (mean depth 5.3 m), high alkalinity (mean alkalinity 1,788 µEq L -1 , mean colour 29.3 mgPt L -1 ) freshwater loch.Its catchment area (24.32 km 2 ) is coniferous woodland (33%), improved grassland (23%), arable horticulture (12%) and broadleaved woodland (8%).The overall ecological status of the loch is currently classified as "Moderate", while the phytoplankton has reached "High" ecological status (SEPA, 2025) and has been usually dominated by diatoms (Cyclotella spp.and Acanthoceras zachariasi), cryptophytes (Cryptomonas spp.) and chlorophytes (Pediastrum spp.and Pandorina morum) over 2022-2024 (data from months of July to September only).
Source: The Glasgow Naturalist
DOI: 10.37208/tgn28304
Authors: J. Krokowski, D.M. John, E. Mullen, M. Lau
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Chemistry
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4407980098