78 A comparison of four native Porphyra species from coastal new england in response to ammonium and temperature in small tank system

• Published in: Journal of Phycology
• Main Authors: Kim, J.K., Kraemer, G.P., Neefus, C.D., Chung, I.K., Yarish, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3646.2003.03906001_78.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.0022-3646.2003.03906001_78.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0022-3646.2003.03906001_78.x

Porphyra is one of the world's most valued maricultured seaweeds. The effects of ammonium concentration and temperature on growth and tissue nitrogen content of Porphyra from coastal New England were studied in 50 liter tanks to produce critical information for the development of a land based aquaculture system. Four Northwest Atlantic Porphyra species: P. leucosticta, P. amplissima, P. linearis and P. umbilicalis , were cultivated for two to three weeks at saturating light intensities (100–150?Em‐2s‐1) and six combinations of ammonium (25 and 250?M) and temperature: 10, 15 and 20?C. The specific growth rate (SGR) of all species under most temperature conditions was significantly higher at 250?M than at 25?M ammonium. P. leucosticta showed higher growth rate at 10 and 15?C (10%d‐1 at 250?M versus 9 – 9.5%d‐1 at 25?M) in the first week. The SGRs of P. linearis in the second week and P. umbilicalis in the first week were the highest at 10?C (16 and 10%d‐1 at 250?M versus 12 and 8%d‐1 at 25?M, respectively). The SGR decreased with increasing temperature. In contrast, P. amplissima showed the highest SGR at 20?C (9%d‐1 at 250?M versus 7%d‐1 at 25?M) in the first week, and the SGR decreased at lower temperatures. Nitrogen concentration in tissue of P. leucosticta was significantly higher at 250?M than at 25?M. The rapid nutrient assimilation and fast growing ability makes Porphyra an excellent candidate for bioremediation and integrated aquaculture.