Morphological discrimination of fouling Ulva and Blidingia species on Pyropia rafts in Rudong, China: an in-field protocol for early monitoring of algae forming the Yellow Sea green tide.

Fouling seaweeds on nori cultivation rafts in Subei radial sand ridges (Jiangsu, China) are believed to be the source of the Yellow Sea green tide (YSGT). Although major species are consistent across years, their biomass and proportions undergo significant annual changes, which was speculated to be related to the size of YSGT. Therefore, early detection and biomass assessment of the bloom-forming algae are crucial, increasing the need to develop a morphological identification method suitable for large sample sizes in the field. In this study, fouling seaweeds were collected from this area in spring 2017. Five major species, Ulva aragoënsis, Ulva compressa, Ulva linza, Ulva prolifera, and Blidingia sp. were molecularly identified, and confirmed as the predominant fouling seaweeds on nori rafts over the past decade. In this unique ecological niche, the morphological features of species changed significantly yet stably. Based on morphological observations, an identification key for these five species was established. Furthermore, a simplified version containing only two indices was developed for practical field use, with an average accuracy of 81 % (δ2 = 0.003) in empirical accuracy assessments. This method can be used to monitor the community structure and succession of fouling seaweeds at the geographical source of YSGT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]