Cyanobacteria associated with Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann larval habitats from southern Chiapas, Mexico, were isolated and identified from water samples and larval midguts using selective medium BG-11. Larval breeding sites were classified according to their hydrology and dominant vegetation. Cyanobacteria isolated in water samples were recorded and analyzed according to hydrological and vegetation habitat breeding types, and mosquito larval abundance. In total, 19 cyanobacteria species were isolated from water samples. Overall, the most frequently isolated cyanobacterial taxa were Phormidium sp., Oscillatoria sp., Aphanocapsa cf. littoralis, Lyngbya lutea, P. animalis, and Anabaena cf. spiroides. Cyanobacteria were especially abundant in estuaries, irrigation canals, river margins and mangrove lagoons, and more cyanobacteria were isolated from Brachiaria mutica, Ceratophyllum demersum, and Hymenachne amplexicaulis habitats. Cyanobacteria were found in habitats with low to high An. albimanus larval abundance, but Aphanocapsa cf. littoralis was associated with habitats of low larval abundance. No correlation was found between water chemistry parameters and the presence of cyanobacteria, however, water temperature (29.2-29.4 degrees C) and phosphate concentration (79.8-136.5 ppb) were associated with medium and high mosquito larvae abundance. In An. albimanus larval midguts, only six species of cyanobacteria were isolated, the majority being from the most abundant cyanobacteria in water samples.
The supratidal and intertidal zones are extreme biotopes. Recent surveys of the supratidal and intertidal fringe of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, have shown that the cyanoprokaryotes are frequently the dominant forms and the heterocytous species form abundant and conspicuous epilithic growths. Five of the eight special morphotypes (Brasilonema sp., Myochrotes sp., Ophiothrix sp., Petalonema sp. and Calothrix sp.) from six localities described and discussed in this paper, are new reports for the tropical Mexican coast and the other three (Kyrtuthrix cf. maculans, Scytonematopsis cf. crustacea and Hassallia littoralis) extend their known distribution.
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