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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1980 February; 39(2): 302-306

Planktonic Marine Luminous Bacteria: Species Distribution in the Water Column

E. G. Ruby^1,, E. P. Greenberg² and J. W. Hastings¹

¹ The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
² Department of Microbiology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

ABSTRACT

Luminous bacteria were isolated from oceanic water samples taken throughout the upper 1,000 m and ranged in density from 0.4 to 30 colony-forming units per 100 ml. Generally, two peaks in abundance were detected: one in the upper 100 m of the water column, which consisted primarily of Beneckea spp.; and a second between 250 and 1,000 m, which consisted almost entirely of Photobacterium phosphoreum. The population of P. phosphoreum remained relatively stable in abundance at one station that was visited three times over a period of 6 months. However, the abundance of luminous Beneckea spp. isolated from the upper waters fluctuated considerably; they were, as high as 30 colony-forming units per 100 ml in the spring and were not detected in the winter. Water samples from depths of 4,000 to 7,000 m contained less than 0.1 luminous colony-forming unit per 100 ml. The apparent vertical stratification of two taxa of oceanic luminous bacteria may reflect not only differences in physiology, but also depth-related, species-specific symbiotic associations.

Present address: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543.

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