Phytomyxids (Phytomyxea) are obligate endosymbionts of many organisms such as algae, diatoms, oomycetes and higher plants including seagrasses. Despite their supposed significant roles in the marine ecosystem, our knowledge of their marine diversity and distribution as well as their life cycles is very limited. Here we describe anatomy and morphology of several developmental stages of a phytomyxid symbiosis recently discovered on the petioles of the alien seagrass Halophila stipulacea (Forssk.) Asch. at a locality in the southeast Aegean Sea. Its earliest whitish stages appeared already on the youngest leaves at the apex of the newly formed rhizomes. The infected host cells grew in volume being filled with plasmodia which resulted in the formation of characteristic macroscopic galls. The plasmodia eventually cleaved into spores and in the final stage recorded by us, the dark brown to black galls contained mature resting spores often occurring in duplexes and possessing thick verrucous outer walls. Based on its anatomo-morphological features the phytomyxid was assigned as Plasmodiophora cf. halophilae. Little is so far known about the origins and eco-physiological functioning of this rare symbiosis. However, seemingly similar infection patterns were reported in 1913 on Halophila ovalis (R. Br.) Hook. f. from Java and in 1995 on H. stipulacea from Sicily. Since H. stipulacea is of the Indo-Pacific origin and no phytomyxid infection was observed on the co-occurring autochthonous seagrass Cymodocea nodosa, we hypothesize that its phytomyxid might have co-migrated into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, potentially reaching as far as the southern Ionian Sea.

The abundance of culturable heterotropic bacteria studied on and according to depth levels and seasons in the Gulf of Antalya. Environmental factors were compared regarding culturable heterotrophic bacteria abundance and diversities of bacteria. During the study period (between August 2009 and April 2010, seasonally in the Gulf of Antalya, at six stations and six depth levels (0-20 cm, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 m). The bacterial isolates were identified in the automated micro identification system VITEK 2 Compact 30 (Biomereux, France). The mean abundance was higher in Sts. D, E and F than Sts. A, B and C, located in the eastern part of the gulf. The mean abundance decreased as the depth level increased. The mean abundance of CHB ranged between 8.15 × 10(6) and 2.54 × 10(8) CFU ml(-1) throughout the year. Abundance of CHB differed according to the variations of biotic and abiotic factors. A total of 27 taxa of bacteria including six bacterial classes were reported in this study as the first records for the Gulf of Antalya. Six bacterial classes: Gamma Proteobacteria (46.81 %), Bacilli (27.66 %), Beta Proteobacteria (12.77 %), Alfa Proteobacteria (6.38 %), Actinobacteria (4.26 %) and Flavobacteria (2.13 %) were determined. The study resulted in increased knowledge on the composition and biochemical response of bacteria isolated from eutrophic and oligotrophic areas. 23 bacteria species belonging to 16 families were reported.

The second location records of Apogon smithi and Vanderhorstia mertensi (Pisces) from the Turkish coast of the Mediterranean Sea mehmet go ¤kog ' lu, elif o ¤zgu ¤ r o ¤zbek, turhan kebapc ‚iog ' lu, b. ahmet balci and yasemin kayaThe present work reports the first record of the cardinal fish, Apogon smithi and second record of the goby fish, Vanderhorstia mertensi in the Gulf of Antalya, Turkey. It constitutes also the second location records of these species from the Turkish coastline and provides information that they are an established alien species in the Mediterranean Sea.