Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh

The tropical estuarine ecosystem is fascinating for studying the dynamics of water quality and phytoplankton diversity due to its frequently changing hydrological conditions. Most importantly, phytoplankton is the main supplier of ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the coastal food web for fis...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shaha, Dinesh Chandra, Hasan, Jahid, Kundu, Sampa Rani, Md. Yusoff, Fatimah, Salam, Mohammad Abdus, Murshida Khan, Haque, Farhana, Ahmed, Minhaz, Rahman, Mohammad Jalilur, Md.Abdul Wahab
Format: Article
Published: Nature Research 2022
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101006/
_version_ 1848863469231669248
author Shaha, Dinesh Chandra
Hasan, Jahid
Kundu, Sampa Rani
Md. Yusoff, Fatimah
Salam, Mohammad Abdus
Murshida Khan
Haque, Farhana
Ahmed, Minhaz
Rahman, Mohammad Jalilur
Md.Abdul Wahab
author_facet Shaha, Dinesh Chandra
Hasan, Jahid
Kundu, Sampa Rani
Md. Yusoff, Fatimah
Salam, Mohammad Abdus
Murshida Khan
Haque, Farhana
Ahmed, Minhaz
Rahman, Mohammad Jalilur
Md.Abdul Wahab
author_sort Shaha, Dinesh Chandra
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The tropical estuarine ecosystem is fascinating for studying the dynamics of water quality and phytoplankton diversity due to its frequently changing hydrological conditions. Most importantly, phytoplankton is the main supplier of ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the coastal food web for fish as they could not synthesize PUFA. This study evaluated seasonal variations of water quality parameters in the Meghna River estuary (MRE), explored how phytoplankton diversity changes according to hydro-chemical parameters, and identified the major phytoplankton groups as the main source of PUFA for hilsa fish. Ten water quality indicators including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN = nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) and phosphorus, dissolved silica and chlorophyll-a were evaluated. In addition, phytoplankton diversity was assessed in the water and hilsa fish gut. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in the water quality conditions, and the driving factors in the MRE. Four main components were extracted and explained 75.4% variability of water quality parameters. The most relevant driving factors were dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and DIN (nitrate, nitrite and ammonia). These variabilities in physicochemical parameters and dissolved inorganic nutrients caused seasonal variations in two major groups of phytoplankton. Peak abundance of Chlorophyta (green algae) occurred in water in nutrient-rich environments (nitrogen and phosphorus) during the wet (36%) season, while Bacillariophyta (diatoms) were dominant during the dry (32%) season that depleted dissolved silica. Thus, the decrease of green algae and the increase of diatoms in the dry season indicated the potential link to seasonal changes of hydro-chemical parameters. The green algae (53.7%) were the dominant phytoplankton group in the hilsa gut content followed by diatoms (22.6%) and both are contributing as the major source of PUFAs for hilsa fish according to the electivity index as they contain the highest amounts of PUFAs (60 and 28% respectively).
first_indexed 2025-11-15T13:33:25Z
format Article
id upm-101006
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-15T13:33:25Z
publishDate 2022
publisher Nature Research
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-1010062023-07-12T06:18:35Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101006/ Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh Shaha, Dinesh Chandra Hasan, Jahid Kundu, Sampa Rani Md. Yusoff, Fatimah Salam, Mohammad Abdus Murshida Khan Haque, Farhana Ahmed, Minhaz Rahman, Mohammad Jalilur Md.Abdul Wahab The tropical estuarine ecosystem is fascinating for studying the dynamics of water quality and phytoplankton diversity due to its frequently changing hydrological conditions. Most importantly, phytoplankton is the main supplier of ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the coastal food web for fish as they could not synthesize PUFA. This study evaluated seasonal variations of water quality parameters in the Meghna River estuary (MRE), explored how phytoplankton diversity changes according to hydro-chemical parameters, and identified the major phytoplankton groups as the main source of PUFA for hilsa fish. Ten water quality indicators including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN = nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) and phosphorus, dissolved silica and chlorophyll-a were evaluated. In addition, phytoplankton diversity was assessed in the water and hilsa fish gut. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in the water quality conditions, and the driving factors in the MRE. Four main components were extracted and explained 75.4% variability of water quality parameters. The most relevant driving factors were dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and DIN (nitrate, nitrite and ammonia). These variabilities in physicochemical parameters and dissolved inorganic nutrients caused seasonal variations in two major groups of phytoplankton. Peak abundance of Chlorophyta (green algae) occurred in water in nutrient-rich environments (nitrogen and phosphorus) during the wet (36%) season, while Bacillariophyta (diatoms) were dominant during the dry (32%) season that depleted dissolved silica. Thus, the decrease of green algae and the increase of diatoms in the dry season indicated the potential link to seasonal changes of hydro-chemical parameters. The green algae (53.7%) were the dominant phytoplankton group in the hilsa gut content followed by diatoms (22.6%) and both are contributing as the major source of PUFAs for hilsa fish according to the electivity index as they contain the highest amounts of PUFAs (60 and 28% respectively). Nature Research 2022-12-05 Article PeerReviewed Shaha, Dinesh Chandra and Hasan, Jahid and Kundu, Sampa Rani and Md. Yusoff, Fatimah and Salam, Mohammad Abdus and Murshida Khan and Haque, Farhana and Ahmed, Minhaz and Rahman, Mohammad Jalilur and Md.Abdul Wahab (2022) Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh. Scientific Reports, 12. art. no. 20980. pp. 1-18. ISSN 2045-2322 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24500-2#:~:text=The%20green%20algae%20(53.7%25),60%20and%2028%25%20respectively). 10.1038/s41598-022-24500-2
spellingShingle Shaha, Dinesh Chandra
Hasan, Jahid
Kundu, Sampa Rani
Md. Yusoff, Fatimah
Salam, Mohammad Abdus
Murshida Khan
Haque, Farhana
Ahmed, Minhaz
Rahman, Mohammad Jalilur
Md.Abdul Wahab
Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh
title Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh
title_full Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh
title_fullStr Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh
title_short Dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa Tenualosa ilisha in the Meghna estuary Bangladesh
title_sort dominant phytoplankton groups as the major source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for hilsa tenualosa ilisha in the meghna estuary bangladesh
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101006/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101006/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101006/