Bs. Galil et N. Hulsmann, PROTIST TRANSPORT VIA BALLAST WATER - BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF BALLAST TANKS BY FOOD-WEB INTERACTIONS, European journal of protistology, 33(3), 1997, pp. 244-253
Ship's ballast waters and sediments serve as a vector in the transport
ation of marine organisms, including toxic dinoflagellates, parasitic
labyrinthulids and other potentially harmful species, These exotic org
anisms have caused major ecological changes, as well as concern over e
ffects an human health, fishing and aquaculture. Heterotrophic pratozo
ans may be inadvertently introduced when their trophic or resting stag
es are discharged with the ballast-tank waters and sediments, This sur
vey describes the protist communities present in ballast tanks of carg
o vessels arriving in Israeli Mediterranean Forts, 362 records of livi
ng protozoan species, identified to at least 198 species belonging to
82 heterotrophic genera, were made in this study The tanks examined ex
hibited a remarkable uniformity of protist communities, enabling us to
classify food web interactions, ranging from bacteria-grazing protozo
ans, predatory unicells, and more intricate associations including par
asites and metazoans.