A Survey of Photosynthetic Pigments from Surface to Oligotrophic Deep Seawater in Suruga Bay, Japan

The composition and abundance of phytoplankton in Suruga Bay, Japan, were investigated to evaluate the photosynthetic production structure and population dynamics from surface to oligotrophic layers seasonally for a four-year period. High-performance liquid chromatography analyses separated more than 80 peaks of pigments, and about 50 pigment species were identified. The main chlorophylls (Chls) and carotenoids were mostly found up to 100 m deep, while small amounts of a limited number of species of pigments such as Chl a, Chl c2, and fucoxanthin, which are markers of diatoms, were also detected even in the oligotrophic region, in addition to degradation products of Chl a, such as pheophorbide a and pheophytin a.