First record of Prorocentrum lima (Dinophyceae) inside harbor areas and along the Abruzzo region coast, W Adriatic

Prorocentrum lima (Ehrenberg) Dodge has been found for the first time during the summer of 2007 inside Ortona harbor and along the coast of the Abruzzo region, a slightly eutrophic area influenced by runoff from a nearby river. The investigations were conducted in two harbors and at six coastal sampling stations. Samplings were conducted using a phytoplankton net and with a pump. Average P. lima cellular concentrations were 3.2 × 104 cells L−1. Other well-known toxic and potentially toxic phytoplankton species have been considered. The number of toxic cells from net samples were higher than the numbers of toxic cell samples collected without the net. Occurrences of P. lima with abiotic factors revealed that temperature was positively correlated with P. lima abundance (p = 0.01), while salinity was highly negatively correlated with P. lima presence (p = 0.001). The total phytoplankton community was studied.