THE USE OF BACTERIOLOGICAL VARIABLES FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF DIFFERENT WATER BODIES

Studies on the Mediterranean Undercurrent in the Gulf of Cadiz showed that bacterial abundance and biomass as well as heterotrophic activity were higher in the water of Mediterranean origin in 500-800 m depth t han in the adjacent Atlantic water. Upwelling processes off Mauretania and Portugal were accompanied by high bacterial numbers (bacterial pl ate counts) in the mixed surface layer. Changes in the qualitative com position of the bacterial flora in the waters off West Africa and in t he Arabian Gulf were explained by the introduction of dust from desert regions into the sea by aeolian transport. In the Western Baltic migr ation of fish was detected by the presence of special bacteria, which normally live on or in these animals. Regions with complex hydrographi c structures such as the Western and Central Baltic Sea revealed inter esting relationships between bacteriological abundance and activity on the one hand and characteristic physical and chemical properties, suc h as origin, salinity and O2/H2S-content, on the other. The importance of bacteriological variables for the characterization of different wa ter bodies is discussed.